Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde reshaped many of my ideas about reading and books-it’s one of the most creative and fun stories that I have ever read. The Wall Street Journal writes: “Filled with clever wordplay, literary allusion and bibliowit, The Eyre Affair combines elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But its quirky charm is all its own.” That cover blurb (along with the Jane Eyre title reference) sold me on it. Thursday Next is Fforde’s heroine, and she’s a literary detective in a very unfamiliar version of 1985 England. When arch-villain Acheron Hades kidnaps Jane Eyre from her own novel, Thursday Next is hot on his heels. I’ve really liked Fforde’s subsequent books, but The Eyre Affair is his first, and in my mind, best outing. I think if you’re a bibliophile or a verbivore, it’s hard not to love!