Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, Bk 1)

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, Bk 1)
lectio avatar reviewed on + 88 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


My guess is that unless youre in the mood for something entirely zany this book will leave you cold. Fortunately I was and so I had a great time reading it, laughing all the way and insisting on reciting entire sections to my poor husband who didn't always appreciate being interrupted. It probably also helped to have majored in English literature and to enjoy occasional forays into the realm of speculative fiction where alternative universes and time travel are commonplace. In this case what made for the most fun was the fact that in this version of London circa 1985, life revolved around literature even for the crooks and criminals who go around kidnapping major characters from classic books which is what happened here when Jane Eyre is suddenly snatched from the famous Bronte novel. Its a world where people can literally get lost in a good book, running the risk of changing important plot lines forever, or being stuck in literary landscapes as did one unlucky character who found herself wandering around for days looking at daffodils with William Wordsworth. Naturally this kind of world requires extra vigilance on the part of the authorities responsible for keeping plot lines intact and so someone like literary detective Thursday Next has her work cut out for her. Fortunately shes up to the task and thanks to Ffordes imagination its a hoot following along as she hunts down the villain responsible for stealing the original manuscript of Charles Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit before the book is altered forever.