The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
Penzler Pick,January  2002:When I first heard the premise of this unique mystery, I doubted  that a first-time author could pull off a complicated caper involving so many  assumptions, not the least of which is a complete suspension of disbelief.  Jasper Fforde is not only up to the task, he exceeds all expectations.Imagine this. Great Britain in 1985 is close to being a police state. The  Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing.  The only recognizable thing about this England is her citizens' enduring love of  literature. And the Third Most Wanted criminal, Acheron Hades, is stealing  characters from England's cherished literary heritage and holding them for  ransom.Bibliophiles will be enchanted, but not surprised, to learn that stealing a  character from a book only changes that one book, but Hades has escalated his  thievery. He has begun attacking the original manuscripts, thus changing all  copies in print and enraging the reading public. That's why Special Operations  Network has a Literary Division, and it is why one of its operatives, Thursday  Next, is on the case.Thursday is utterly delightful. She is vulnerable, smart, and, above all,  literate. She has been trying to trace Hades ever since he stole Mr. Quaverley  from the original manuscript ofMartin Chuzzlewitand killed him. You  will only remember Mr. Quaverley if you readMartin Chuzzlewitprior to  1985. But now Hades has set his sights on one of the plums of literature,Jane Eyre, and he must be stopped.How Thursday achieves this and manages to preserve one of the great books of the  Western canon makes for delightfully hilarious reading. You do not have to be an  English major to be pulled into this story. You'll be rooting for Thursday,  Jane, Mr. Rochester--and a familiar ending.--Otto Penzler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.