The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book 5 or 6 years ago. I was on the fence about it then but continued on with the series. Rereading it years later, I enjoyed the book much more. The characters are quirky but realistic (at least as realistic as it gets in a Jasper Fforde novel) and the plot, although slow to develop, was entertaining. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I were more familiar with some of the literary works discussed during the novel. I think there were inside jokes I missed. [I also think I said this the first time that I read it and that if I would do a re-read I would brush up on some of my classical reading...]

Series: Thursday Next Book 1

Synopsis: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from workds of literature. When Jane Eyer is plucked from the pages of Bronte's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

Recommended Reading:
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde