The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is probably the most unusual book I read this year. It took me a significant amount of time to get my head around the weirdness of the setting and the plot. The book is not a favorite (I do have conventional tastes), but I still appreciate it for just how novel an experience it offered up to me.
About the Book
Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality, and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare; there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that’s just a prelude.
Hades’ real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it’s not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte’s novel. Enter Thursday Next. She’s the Special Operative’s renowned literary detective and drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft’s Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It’s tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax.
Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte’s masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids
~ Synopsis from goodreads
My Review
So, I have already mentioned that this is not a favorite book. I want to go a step further and say that I disliked it heartily for the most part. I am a reader of conventional tastes, and I think this book was a bit too out there for me.
It’s not that I didn’t like the premise; I did. The ability to enter a book and manipulate the plot (like the villain Hades) or enjoy the setting (like Thursday’s aunt) appeals to me.
However, the execution of it did not quite fly with me.
One reason for that would be the book blurb and title indicating that the kidnapping of Jane Eyre is the main plot. However, that doesn’t happen until almost the end of the book! Instead, we have to read about the murder of an obscure character from Martin Chuzzlewit (a Dickens novel I haven’t read). I have nothing against Martin Chuzzlewit; I am sure it’s a perfectly delightful novel, but I didn’t go into this book for Martin Chuzzlewit. And I found these parts of the book very slow and pointless.
Thursday Next and her lukewarm romance were also a big, fat disappointment. Her romance is so lukewarm that I can’t remember the hero’s name now. All I can remember noting is that Thursday enjoyed more chemistry with Rochester from Jane Eyre than with her beau.
I also just found the world-building dull. Dull? How could such an interesting-sounding world be dull? It’s hard for me to express it, there were many interesting details, and as a bookworm, I should have lapped up all the literary allusions. But, but, but, it just didn’t work out for me. Maybe it’s because of the too many interesting side characters not staying long enough in the book to make a bigger impact. Or maybe it was because of the interesting side plots (time travel) that don’t actually go anywhere—whatever the reason, none of these interesting things impacted me enough.
It’s only when Jane Eyre gets kidnapped and Thursday enters the Jane Eyre book that the plot gets interesting. The last 100 or so pages were the best part of the book. And I absolutely adored how Thursday goes into the book and ensures a happy ending for Jane and Rochester.
Last thoughts
Overall, it is a book I think that will work for a hardcore bookworm. Fforde’s imagination is beautiful, and he loves literature – it was great fun to spot the influences and details he incorporates, from character names to stray allusions. But just these don’t make a novel. I needed a gripping plot, strong characters, and stronger world-building. This book was a disappointment for me.
I know a lot of book bloggers/reviewers adored this book. Were you one of them? What did you think of the book? Do the later books get better?
