The Eyre Affair
A Thursday Next Novel
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4.3 • 270 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The first novel in the renowned Thursday Next series, which “combines elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (The Wall Street Journal).
“A literary wonderland [that] recalls Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker series [and] the works of Lewis Carroll.”—USA Today
Meet Thursday Next, “part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times), a literary detective without equal, fear, or boyfriend—and 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 Wadsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature.
When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter a novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.
Don’t miss any of Jasper Fforde’s delightfully entertaining Thursday Next novels:
THE EYRE AFFAIR • LOST IN A GOOD BOOK • THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS • SOMETHING ROTTEN • FIRST AMONG SEQUELS • ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING • THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Mystery fans and literature nerds alike will adore this hilariously meta detective story. It’s 1985 in an alternate-universe Britain. How alternate? Well, everybody’s obsessed with classic literature, disagreements about Surrealism spark riots in the streets, and criminals like Acheron Hades have discovered that original manuscripts contain portals into the books themselves, causing havoc and changing popular stories. Luckily, plucky police detective Thursday Next is hot on Hades’ trail—with the help of her grumpy time-traveler father. Jasper Fforde has created a brilliantly fun mystery with shades of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. Even with all the laughs, Thursday is a likable and dogged detective who takes her work seriously, which naturally makes everything that much funnier. Strap in for a wild and exciting read that’s like nothing you’ve ever read before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Surreal and hilariously funny, this alternate history, the debut novel of British author Fforde, will appeal to lovers of zany genre work (think Douglas Adams) and lovers of classic literature alike. The scene: Great Britain circa 1985, but a Great Britain where literature has a prominent place in everyday life. For pennies, corner Will-Speak machines will quote Shakespeare; Richard III is performed with audience participation la Rocky Horror and children swap Henry Fielding bubble-gum cards. In this world where high lit matters, Special Operative Thursday Next (literary detective) seeks to retrieve the stolen manuscript of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit. The evil Acheron Hades has plans for it: after kidnapping Next's mad-scientist uncle, Mycroft, and commandeering Mycroft's invention, the Prose Portal, which enables people to cross into a literary text, he sends a minion into Chuzzlewit to seize and kill a minor character, thus forever changing the novel. Worse is to come. When the manuscript of Jane Eyre, Next's favorite novel, disappears, and Jane herself is spirited out of the book, Next must pursue Hades inside Charlotte Bront 's masterpiece. The plethora of oddly named characters can be confusing, and the story's episodic nature means that the action moves forward in fits and starts. The cartoonish characters are either all good or all bad, but the villain's comeuppance is still satisfying. Witty and clever, this literate romp heralds a fun new series set in a wonderfully original world.
Customer Reviews
The Eyre Affair
Laughed out loud through this wonderful story then realized I needed to brush up on a few classics from high school. Actually, didn't bother to do that and ordered the next book in his series instead. What fun!
Thursday Next and her travels
This book, the first in the series, is a masterpiece, combining of pure imagination and classic literature. Jasper Fforde has done a fantastic job; my favourite book now and always.