The Eyre Affair

It is always a privilege to watch the birth of a cult. Always ridiculous, often hilarious ... blink and you miss a vital narrative leap. There are shades of Douglas Adams, Lewis Carroll, Clockwork Orange and 1984. And thats just for startersTime Out

Meet Thursday Next, literary detective without equal, fear or boyfriend.

There is another 1985, where Londons criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime waves Mr Big.

Acheron Hades has been kidnapping certain characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing.

Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isnt easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeares plays.

Perhaps today just isnt going to be Thursdays day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again ...

[Shes] part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew and part Dirty Harry Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

***Pre-order the latest Thursday Next adventure, DARK READING MATTER, now ***