Nanny Fifi

I recently finished The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It wasn’t a book I would normally choose, although I did have his name as a suggestion on my very long “To Read” list.

I was in the library with Baillie, my 8 year old granddaughter and as we were leaving I decided to choose something quickly to see me through until I could get to the library next (never mind the 8 books next to my bed borrowed from a work colleague, I just can’t seem to leave the library without a book). The author’s name looked familiar so I grabbed The Eyre Affair.

I started the book a little dubiously, not really my thing all this…time travel, fantasy stuff, but it is about books and that’s what kept me reading. I loved it! I know I didn’t get a lot of the “inside jokes”, but the ones I did were very clever and funny.

Thursday Next is a female Literary Detective with Special Operations, the New York Times review described her as part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew and part Dirty Harry, and that pretty sums her up.
Thursday is on the heels of the baddy (Acheron Hades) who is the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Jane from the novel, and she is also hoping to rescue her Aunt who has literally got lost in Wordsworth’s daffodils poem, meanwhile dealing with bureaucracy by the name of Jack Shitte. Jane befriends Edward Rochester and enters the novel to save the day. This isn’t a spoiler – it’s all on the back cover!
In her private life Thursday is dealing with the break-up from her boyfriend Landen Parke-Laine, and so it goes on. Very clever and very funny.