The Eyre Affair is the debut novel by English author Jasper Fforde, published by Hodder and Stoughton in 2001. It takes place in an alternative 1985, where literary detective Thursday Next pursues a master criminal through the world of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Fforde had received 76 rejections for earlier works before being accepted by a publisher. Critical reception of this novel was generally positive, remarking on its originality.
First edition cover
Jasper Fforde is an English novelist, whose first novel, The Eyre Affair, was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his Thursday Next novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected Nursery Crime series and the first books of two other independent series: The Last Dragonslayer and Shades of Grey. Fforde's books abound in literary allusions and wordplay, tightly scripted plots and playfulness with the conventional, traditional genres. They usually contain elements of metafiction, parody, and fantasy.
Fforde at the 2012 Texas Book Festival