Ready for a mental vacation and a departure from reality?
Whether your summer plans include lounging poolside, lakeside, oceanside or bedside, plan to take a trip into a good book.
Thursday Next, a war veteran with her share of scars, is the protagonist in this reality bending introduction to the series by British author Jasper Fforde. Having a penchant for the ridiculous, Fforde manages to stuff all sorts of references and a few genres into his novels.
Part mystery, part science fiction, part alternate history with a smidgen of romance and exemplary grammar thrown in for good measure, “The Eyre Affair” is a delightful ramble from London into the literature-enamored English countryside and beyond.
Thursday, who is a LiteraTec (Literary Detective) for SpecOps, definitely does not shrink from trouble. She runs headlong into it in order to bring criminals to justice, whether they are forgers of rare books or more sinister evil-doers. Our heroine finds herself down and out after a kerfuffle with her nemesis, Acheron Hades, a self-avowed super villain and one of the most wanted criminals in the world.
Returning from London to take a low-level job in her hometown, Thursday is concerned about the goings-on in other super-secret Special Operations departments and uneasy about the new Literary Crime cases that come up while she is there. The powers that be are convinced that super-villain Hades is out of the picture, but who else would be depraved enough to remove characters from the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’ “Martin Chuzzlewit”?
Thursday’s 1985 England is one reminiscent of ours, but different in significant ways. The People’s Republic of Wales is a sovereign nation, cloning extinct animals has become a fashionable way to own a pet, and poets and authors hold the places in society normally reserved for royals, star athletes and other celebrities.
With a cast of characters from the ludicrously named Braxton Hicks to those ripped directly from its Brontë novel namesake, “The Eyre Affair” is sure to keep the reader engaged in mental gymnastics and belly laughs.
Those who are looking for something just a little bit different to read and are fans of classical literature will enjoy this PG-13 departure from reality. “Jane Eyre” has been my favorite romance novel since I was old enough to read it. My pleasure has been to re-read Charlotte Brontë’s story of the struggle of a young woman to carve out a place of her own within the rigid class lines of Victorian England. My affection for Jane and her Mr. Rochester increased my enjoyment of “The Eyre Affair.”
So, if you like stories about good guys and bad guys, dot your i's, cross your t’s, pick up the dropped prepositions and keep those bookworms fed!
I purchased “The Eyre Affair” from abebooks.com. It is also available from thriftbooks.com and via Libby at Chester County Library System as an eBook and in many formats from the Big A.
Fforde, Jasper. The Eyre Affair. Penguin Publishing Group, 2002.
ABOUT OUR BLOGGER
Sarah Flowers lives in idyllic Chadds Ford, where she is steeped in beauty and connection to the land and its history. She loves coffee and flowers and getting to know Jesus. A lifelong learner, she seeks to follow God’s plan to bring justice to the under-resourced. Sarah is a self-declared serial optimist and melodiphile; there’s always a path to the sunny side and a soundtrack for the journey! She is a mom and wife and a grateful alumna of Northwood University. Her former iterations include automotive professional and shoe diva.
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