Laura Stands Alone

I finished Jaspar Fforde’s The Eyre Affair a couple of days ago. Veronica has been encouraging me to read it for ages and Anne recently read it and had great things to say about it, too. Even with those testimonials I went in not sure what to expect. The alterna-universe concept, complete with time travel, sounded like it might be a bit too sci-fi-ish for me. But the book’s meta-literary nature was certainly right up my alley. I felt like it could go either way.

The book is set in an alternate England circa 1985 where literature is taken very, very seriously. Literary detective Thursday Next is tapped for a special assignment because she has a history with and special knowledge of Acheron Hades, the villain who begins kidnapping British literature characters right off the page. With her family in danger, her career on the line, and a nation’s favorite characters in peril, Thursday has to pull out all the stops.

I’m happy to say: I loved this book! The central concept is wonderfully fresh, the pacing makes for a fun and quick read, and picking up all the references makes for great satisfaction. Fforde has written four Thursday Next follow-ups, and I hope to read them in 2009 when I allow myself to buy a book again!