The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next Books, #1)

by Jasper Fforde

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.

Reviewed by tellemonstar on

3 of 5 stars

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Full review here.

This was an interesting read. Lots of subtle in-jokes for lovers of books, and pun-filled names.

Thursday is not your average heroine, which is nice. She’s witty and amusing, but also has enough flaws and subtleties of character to make her accessible to most readers.

There were parts of the book that I could have done without, that made it feel a bit long. Not big things, but some of the Shakespeare stuff was a little bit excessive.

Another thing that annoyed me was that it felt a little bit like the author was trying too hard to be original. The book was screaming ‘look at me and how original I am’ over and over. Occasionally the plot got lost or fell through a wormhole or something, because it kept switching genres so much.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 25 May, 2013: Finished reading
  • 25 May, 2013: Reviewed