The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair
By Jasper Fforde
Viking, 2002. 374 pgs. Science Fiction

Thursday Next is a LiteraTec, a special operative who specializes in literature-related crime. British citizens take their literature very seriously--and soon a criminal begins taking literature very literally. When the original manuscript to Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit is stolen under mysterious circumstances, only Acheron Hades can be the culprit. Thursday is recruited to help nab him, but the case takes a personal nature when Thursday's uncle, a genius who has invented a machine with the potential to alter literary works completely, is kidnapped. Now Thursday has to save her family as well as some of the world's greatest works of literature.

This book is offers alternate history (England and Russia are still fighting the Crimean War in 1985), time travel, and a passionate literary community. Humorous and clever, this book is a good one for those who, like me, aren't typically sci-fi readers. While the world is different than ours, it still is based enough in real life not to be a complete system shock, and the cast of characters (including appearances by Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester) are delightful. The "Eyre" part of the affair was a little long in coming, but once the story hit that spot, it was especially entertaining.

AE