The Eyre Affair Audiobook By Jasper Fforde cover art

The Eyre Affair

A Thursday Next Novel

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The Eyre Affair

By: Jasper Fforde
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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Alex Award—YALSA

The first in a series of outlandishly clever adventures featuring the resourceful, fearless literary detective Thursday Next—a New York Times best seller!

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 website that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

Delve into Jasper Fforde's literary universe with the other books in his Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.©2003 Jasper Fforde (P)2009 Penguin Alternate History Classics Contemporary Detective Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery Paranormal & Urban Science Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Witty Funny Mind-Bending

Critic reviews

“Neatly delivers alternate history, Monty Pythonesque comedy skits, Grand Guignol supervillains, thwarted lovers, po-mo intertextuality, political commentary, time travel, vampires, absent-minded inventors, a hard-boiled narrator, and lots, lots more. . . . Suspend your disbelief, find a quiet corner and just surrender to the storytelling voice of the unstoppable, ever-resourceful Thursday Next.”—The Washington Post

“Fforde’s imaginative novel will satiate readers looking for a Harry Potter-esque tale. . . . The Eyre Affair’s literary wonderland recalls Douglas Adams’s Hitchhikers series, the works of Lewis Carroll and Woody Allen’s The Kugelmass Episode.”—USA Today

“[Thursday Next is] part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Creative Premise • Literary References • Excellent Character Differentiation • Clever Wordplay • Imaginative Worldbuilding
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This wonderfully fanciful story is set in a world which revolves around books. The protagonist works as a literary detective which provides a launch point for a wide assortment of interesting events. The plot thickens EVERYWHERE! There are murders and mayhem with a sprinkling of love and lust, topped with a mad scientist and a few dodos. An all-around fun read. If you like Terry Pratchett, try this one too.

Fun, fun, fun for book lovers!

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The premise of the story is great and there is every reason for this to be a good book but it just didn't hold my interest. There is nothing in it to make you care about the characters or the outcome of the story. I stopped listening after listening to 60% of it.

Disappointment

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Jasper Fforde is an excellent world builder, which is why is pains me that I found myself somewhat disappointed with the Eyre Affair. His far superior Shades of Grey, which I have actively recommended to everyone I know, is a clever, original, Orwellian tale that describes a society in which one's social hierarchy is determined by one's ability to see the higher/lower end of the color spectrum. The Eyre Affair has also constructed brilliant world (OK, not as great as Shades of Grey, but still engaging) filled with enough literary references to make every English major swoon. However, while entertaining, the Eyre Affair received only a 3-star rating as I found the antagonists somewhat two-dimensional.

Better Options Out There

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I read this book decades ago and found it charming. I was very pleased to find that it’s quirky humor has stood the test of time. The reader was wonderful and added to my pleasure in the story. It’s English humor and I know I missed some of the literary references but laughed out loud at the ones I got. Anyway, I hope you’ll give it a try. I’m going to download the next in the series🙂

Great book!

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Very well written and surprisingly witty. Looking forward to hearing the next Thursday Next book!

summary doesn't do it justice

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I like stories that involve classic literature. This was good. I just found the characters somewhat confusing for the first half of the story. And the switches in time periods.

Have you listened to any of Susan Duerden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to her before. I liked her voice and she did a really good job with the different accents

Liked it. Didn't love it.

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I liked the creative nature of the story. A bit too whimsical and loosely threaded for me at times, but I love the unique world and humor that comes along with it. A quick listen/read with a lot of redeeming fictional moments.

Artemis foul for adults

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A playfully imaginative story for the true booklover. The Eyre Affair is well-read in every sense.

A favorite re-listen

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Would you listen to The Eyre Affair again? Why?

I definitely would listen again. It was a complicated story, very entertaining and interesting.

What other book might you compare The Eyre Affair to and why?

It stands alone, it was unique and excellent.

What about Susan Duerdan’s performance did you like?

Her voice was pleasant to listen to, she did the various characters very well and the story flowed perfectly. I think she was excellent.

The Eyre Affair

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Fforde's books are always hugely tongue-in-cheek. With a razor edge. Susan Duerdan did a magnificent job capturing the absolutely deadpan silliness, and the knife edge. Well done.

Crazy, whacky, thought provoking.

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