Review: The Eyre Affair

From 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 … a 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 Bronte's masterpiece.

Dare I admit I have yet to read Jane Eyre? (Does it count that I saw the play?) And, the only Dickens I know in depth is A Christmas Carole! Despite my classical reading deficits, I really enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining and so witty! (And I probably still missed a lot of the wit.) With characters named Victor Analogy and Braxton Hicks you can’t help but chuckle. Not to mention crazy inventor Uncle Mycroft and his bookworms that produce too many apostrophes and hyphens when they get overwhelmed. There’s time travel, travel into classic books, and elements of any good adventure book all mixed in with some romance and a little family drama. I know, it all sounds like too much, but Fforde has true talent and, in my opinion, it works. I envy his creativity. This is the perfect read when you simply want to have fun. This is just the first book in the Thursday Next series, and I look forward to reading more.

This book was also recently read by Trish.