Back in September – October, we had a read-along of Jasper Fforde’s book The Eyre Affair.

Here is a recap of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde:

The Eyre Affair’s hero, Thursday Next, is a former Crimean War veteran and LiteraTech agent with an “it’s complicated” relationship with former Crimean War veteran now author Landen Park-Laine and a cloned pet Dodo called Pickwick.

We first meet Thursday, talking to her ChronoGuard father. A man who is on the run through time, changing history and absent from her family.We first meet Thursday talking to her ChronoGuard father. A man who currently is on the run through time and absent from her family.

Thursday travels from London to attend a crime scene over the missing original Charles Dicken’s Martin Chuzzlewit manuscript. No crime scene evidence exists, but there is suspicion that Thursday may know who the thief is.

A mysterious group called SpecOps-5 invited Thursday to transfer from her London job in SpecOps-27 (Literary Detectives) and return to Swindon, her hometown, to track Styx Hades. The brother of Acheron Hades, the suspected thief Thursday Next, has a history with, who was her former lecturer at Swindon University turned master criminal.

SpecOps-5 is a group responsible for tracking the planet’s worst villains. On their list is Acheron Hades.

Thursday works with Filbert Snood, an old boyfriend who lied to her about leaving her for another woman. His real reason was that he aged 60 years in 7 seconds working as a ChronoGuard and did not want her to see him affected by time aggregation.

Filbert gives Thursday a copy of Jane Eyre. A book that would save her life when they discover Acheron Hades, who kills Filbert in their confrontation, leaving Thursday wounded.

As a child, Thursday time-travels into the Jane Eyre story and meets Edward Rochester, who mentions that her intervention caused him to meet Jane.

Rochester takes an adult Thursday to the hospital, where she sees herself in the future with her assistant Bowden Cable – in her rainbow Porshe Turbo giving Thursday a message to take the job in Swindon.

Thursday returns to Swindon by airship, meeting two young protesters against the war and talks to Colonel Phelps at the airport, who wants her to talk at a meeting.

Returning to her family home, she talks to her mother, who still hopes she will marry Landen as Thursday is in her 30s and her mother Wednesday wants grandchildren.

Thursday travels to the Finis Hotel and meets Landen Park-Laine, her ex-boyfriend, joining him for tickets to see Richard III. Thursday blames Landen for not defending her brother Anton in a military inquiry. Anton was Landen’s best friend and died when Thursday and Landen were both in the Crimean war. He lets Anton take the blame as the man that lost the Light Armoured Brigade.

Landon wants to reconnect with Thursday, and Thursday loves Landen but can not move past her anger over Anton, leaving Landen before he tells her he is getting married to Daisy Mutlar.

Thursday visits her uncle Mycroft, a genius inventor who shows her his latest invention, the Prose Portal, a book created by Mycroft with bookworms that eat the text of a book, powered by electricity that allow you to enter a doorway into a book or poem.

Mycroft shows his new invention to his wife Polly and takes her to her favourite Wordsworth poem, “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud”.

Another mysterious group called the Goliath Corporation visits Mycroft to take his invention.

Acheron learns Mycroft has invented the Prose Portal and kidnaps him, leaving Polly trapped inside the poem. Mycroft has to help Acheron to save Polly.

Acheron uses the Prose Portal to erase the character Mr Quaverly from Martin Chuzzleit. Mycroft was shocked to see his invention used to cause mayhem and burns the original Martin Chuzzlewit manuscript. Leaves Acheron searching for a new manuscript and a ransom of 10 million pounds, a Gainsborough painting, an 8-week run of Mcbeth at the Old Vic and a motorway rename.

Acheron discovers Emily Bronte’s original manuscript of Jane Eyre and steels it from her family home.

Acheron uses the Prose Portal again to kidnap Jane Eyre from the BookWorld, taking her away from a devastated Rochester. There is a public outcry and riot over the loss of Jane Eyre, which travels to the Prime Minister of England.

Thursday and Bowden Cable learn that Acheron has the Jane Eyre manuscript and hunt him down to Wales, traveling through a time spiral that appears in the middle of a motorway. Saving the group of cars on the road and assisting the ChronoGuard mend time with a basketball stopping the time spiral – but end up traveling 31 years into the future.

Travelling to Wales Thursday meets a book contact that sneaks her and Bowden to the Penderyn Hotel.

Thursday retrieves the poem Polly is stuck inside and follows Acheron Hades into the BookWorld, meeting Mrs Nakajima, a fellow time traveler that has made a BookWorld tourist business. Thursday spends months stuck in the story with Mr Rochester searching for Acheron, and Acheron throws Bertha Rochester off a three-story building erasing her from the story for good.

Thursday and Acheron have a final battle, and Thursday ends up the victor, returning to Swindon and helping stop the war in Crimea, bringing peace.

At the end of the story, Rochester and Jane are married with two children. The Rochesters send Mr Briggs, the lawyer in the original Jane Eyre story, to stop Landen Park-Laine’s wedding to Daisy – announcing that Daisy is still married. Now free Thursday confesses her feelings for Landen, and they marry at the end of the book.

Eyre Affair Questions 📚:

• What are your thoughts on The Eyre Affair? Would you want to have Thursday Next’s LiteraTech job?
• What extinct or mythical creature would you clone as a pet?
• How would you feel having a time-travelling parent that is never permanently in your life for only a few minutes because he is on the run from the people who him?
• Would joining the ChronGuard be an adventure that lets you change history or a risky choice where you lose time with your family?
• Was Filbert Snood correct to lie to Thursday about his age dilapidation?
• Was Thursday right for not speaking to Landen about her true feelings?
• You discover that you can travel to the BookWorld, like Thursday and Mrs Nakajima – where would you go?
• Is BookWorld tourism a fun idea?
• What BookWorld character would you want to meet?

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🦤 Reference:

Fforde, J. (2001). The Eyre Affair. Hodder and Stoughton.