Review: The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair is set in an alternative world in England in the year 1985. Time travel is possible and literature is king.

History in this world is different from our world. Wales is an independent country now in dispute with England. The Crimean war is still ongoing after 131 years. Moreover, its not just history that is different. Fforde has created a world populated with Baconians who go door to door trying to convince people that Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. People travel in airships rather than planes. Richard II is presented as an audience participation show ala Rocky Horror. Cloning is possible. And literature has been elevated to such levels that forgery, illegal trading, and copyright infringement are considered major crimes.

Thursday Next is the heroine of the story. She is a special operative in the Literary Detection branch of the Special Operations Network. The villain is Acheron Hades, the third most wanted man in the world and a former instructor of Thursday's. When he steals an original Martin Chuzzlewit manuscript, Thursday is called in to assist with the investigation. Things don't go as planned, and Hades manages to delete a minor character from the story.

Hades doesn't stop there. Martin Chuzzlewit was just practice. His main plan involves holding Jane Eyre hostage. Thursday, using a machine invented by her slightly mad uncle Mycroft, must travel into the world of the Jane Eye and prevent Hades from destroying the much beloved book.

Fforde's imagination has created not just a unique story, but a world filled with interesting characters and a fleshed out society. You really feel like you've entered a new, but strangely familiar world. There are so many things that brought me a chuckle (if not an outright guffaw). But, I think my favorite small touch was Fforde's inclusion of Japanese tourists in Jane Eyre.

The notes at the start of each chapter are great, especially the ones from Thursday's autobiography. They allow a lot of information to be given easily. One problem with a first person narrative is getting background information out naturally. These notes help Fforde pass on this information naturally.

The book has some great lines, inevitably coming from Hades. Among my favorites are "Shall we get to work? I haven't committed a singularly debauched act for almost an hour." "I'm not mad, I'm just, well, differently moraled, that's all"

The Eyre Affair is not without flaws. Sometimes all the weird names get distracting Jack Schitt, Bowden Cable, Jolly Next, Dr. Runcible Spoon, Adrian Smarts, Felix7, Wednesday Next, Landen Parke-Lane, and Commander Braxton Hicks, Although I would imagine that they are more distracting for UK readers because they are more familiar with the sources of some of these names.

I found The Eyre Affair to be a thoroughly enjoyable book. I've been recommending it to everyone and can't wait to start Thursday's next (no pun intended) adventure Lost in a Good Book.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Mary R - RAM

Book Review: The Eyre Affair