The Eyre Affair

There is another 1985, somewhere in the could-have-been, where the Crimean war still rages, dodos are regenerated in home-cloning kits and everyone is deeply disappointed by the ending of 'Jane Eyre'. In this world there are no jet-liners or computers, but there are policemen who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next. In this utterly original and wonderfully funny first novel, Fforde has created a fiesty, loveable heroine and a plot of such richness and ingenuity that it will take your breath away.

ISBN 034073356X   Weight (grammes) 240 ISBN13 9780340733561 (What's this?)   Published in London Publisher Hodder & Stoughton General Division   Series title Thursday next Imprint New English Library Ltd   Previous ISBN 9780340825761 Format Paperback   Height (mm) 197 Publication date 19 Jul 2001   Width (mm) 129 DEWEY 823.92   Spine width (mm) 25 DEWEY edition DC21   Academic level General Pages 384

'What Fforde is pulling is a variation on the classic Monty Python gambit: the incongruous juxtaposition og low comedy and high erudition - this scam has not been pulled off with such off-hand finesse and manic verve since the Pythons shut up shop. 'The Eyre Affair' is a silly book for smart people: postmodernism played as raw, howling farce' -- Independent 'It is always a privilege to watch the birth of a cult, and Hodder has just cut the umbilical cord. Always ridiculous, often hilarious ... blink and you miss a vital narrative leap. There are shades of Douglas Adams, Lewis Carroll, 'Clockwork Orange' and '1984'. And that's just for starters' -- Time Out 'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' -- Terry Pratchett 'Surely a cult in the making' -- Marie Clare

The Eyre Affair, the first in his Thursday Next series, is a smart, funny book that had me entranced from the start. It's an ingenious story, set in a parallel world where people are literature fans, time-travel is possible, and the Crimean War is still being fought. Why do I love this book? Simply because it's a cracking story that is very, very funny. - Steven Lowe - Blackwell Bookshop, Nottingham Jubilee

In a world when Thursday Next is a feisty detective, Jack Schitt is a right shit, and Swindon is interesting you have got to love this nonsense. With fantastic knowledge of classic fiction and the ability to (mis)quote George Lucas, Fforde has create a world featuring Mr Rochester, a re-engineered Dodo called Pickwick, and an ever-lasting Crimean War. See how many literary allusions/illusions you can spot! - Paul Curtis - Blackwell Library Supplies



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