Book Review: The Eyre Affair

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

The Eyre Affair centres around the character Thursday Next and her exploits as a literary detective. The story is set in an alternative universe that mirrors our own in some ways, but is very different in others. For one, the world, particularly England, is obsessed by all things literature (not a bad thing, mind you!). Things get particularly interesting when characters start getting kidnapped from books.

Pros: As an avid reader, I loved the focus on literature, and enjoyed the various debates including around the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. I also recently watched BBC’s Jane Eyre miniseries, so the The Eyre Affair helped give me my Jane Eyre (and Rochester) fix.

Cons: The book starts off quite slow and only picks up about halfway through. I did feel though that the last quarter of the book more than makes up for the rest of the book, so it’s worth pushing through it.

[Prof. Sky Alton]

A friend recommended this to me recently, glad to know it's worth picking up!

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

I've just finished reading the second book in the series, Lost in a Good Book. It also has its slow parts, but overall, I found it to be a more entertaining read than the first book. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Thursday was on trial for committing Literary Infraction. More literary characters were included this time round, such as the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat, perhaps better known as the Cheshire Cat, which also contributed to my enjoyment of the book.

Onto the Next one!