Product Description

In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy-enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel--unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4470 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-25
• Released on: 2003-02-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.com
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 of Martin Chuzzlewit and killed him. You will only remember Mr. Quaverley if you read Martin Chuzzlewit prior 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

From Publishers Weekly
This novel might be called "James Bond Meets Harry Potter in the Twilight Zone." In fact, the reader plays "name that literary reference" through most of this zany work, where characters wander around in time from the Crimean War through the present and into the future, and in and out of novels including, of course, Jane Eyre. The narrator, Tuesday Next, is a tough, gun-totin' heart-of-gold heroine with a pet dodo, a true love she has refused to acknowledge and a brilliant, dotty scientist uncle named Mycroft. Her job is to rescue literary characters kidnapped out of books from being wiped off the face of every copy of a work by tracking down and outwitting the purely evil Asheron Hades and Goliath Corporation greedyman Jack Shit. Throughout, discussions of who really wrote Shakespeare's plays abound, along with send-ups of every literary genre from the highest to the lowest brow. Sastre's reading works particularly well because she's good at the straight narrative, while the nature of the book's language makes melodramatic voices for the other bizarre characters. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Forecasts, Dec. 17, 2001).
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-A delightful first book in a proposed series set in an alternative and offbeat Britain of 1985 and featuring Literary Detective Thursday Next. England is still fighting the Crimean War with Imperialist Russia, and the prevailing culture is based on literature. When the original manuscript of Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit is stolen, it is a high crime indeed, and Next is called in to help catch the culprit. To make matters worse, her "mad as pants" but brilliant uncle has created a machine that could cause all kinds of literary mayhem. This title has a cast of complete nutters. Acheron Hades, the world's third most wanted villain, has just the right mix of evil and charm to make readers look forward to meeting the first and second most wanted. Be warned that minor passersby may come round again in this "mad tea party" of a story. The novel has the surrealism and satire of Douglas Adams, the nonsense and wordplay of Lewis Carroll, and the descriptive detail of Connie Willis. What sets Fforde's work apart, however, is its winsome heroine. This is a highly entertaining mystery with social satire, time travel, fantasy, science fiction, and romance thrown in to the well-written mix.
Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Pythonesque trip through English lit
What a fun book! My first forray into Fforde, and I completely see why he has a strong following among my more well-read friends.

To get the most out of this, the reader has to be up on history and especially English literature. The setting is somewhere between a truly alternate history and one that time-travelers have hopelessly mucked up. Along the way are a few truly innovative (dare I say saying "novel"?) ideas that really makes literature come "alive." The ending ties together almost too perfectly, and the only thing that keeps it from feeling contrived is such endings are completely in character with the medium this book both parrodies and mines for inspiration.

This book is best enjoyed if the reader is at least passingly familiar with Jane Eyre and various Shakespeare plays (plus Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" which is a prominant sub-plot.) The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is my own ignorance: my only exposure to Jane Eyre was reading a couple chapters as a "sampler" 20 years ago in a "Women in Literature class... which was about the same time I last cracked open Shakespeare. In all honesty, neither engaged me at the time. I almost certainly would have gotten more out of this book if I were more more familiar with those subjects.

As you can probably guess from this (and other reviews) this book isn't for everyone, especially those who don't read "classics" that much. I would actually put myself in that category, except the humor of the book was enough to carry me over and keep me engaged to the last page. You also have to like "high-brow British humor" such as Monty Python or Douglas Adams, which this book definately has a spiritual kinship with.

Unique and Amusing
Fforde's well designed and intreaguing alternative England is thoroughly created and fascinating. His characters are amusing and I laughed out loud several times while enjoying their escapades. A very different book and nice change of pace. Can't wait to read the rest!

Fantastic Series
Amazing writing, amazing creativity. Think of Harry Potter for literary adults. It's a fantastic peice of fiction.