On the brink of health and family dilemmas, I was flaying around to get my mind off what was happening, not settling on anything, unable to find something which would give me peace of mind even for a short time. I had lost my way regarding books, those recommended were not my style, and everyone seemed to be pushing their own agenda. Looking at you Goodreads. Naturally all the publishers had Number One Bestsellers. After all, an author has to eat, drink and support a family too. But nothing clicked for quite some time. Until…

Did you hear the drumroll? Or get a soft-fade kind of feeling?

A reverie, down memory lane…

I had a flex-day off work and decided to trot down to the small local shopping centre where the mobile library van parked once a week. Those were the days when you could park because everyone actually went to work in person in the city. Anyway, the mobile library was like a family caravan with shelves and books instead of bunk beds. The updated version is huge with flash modern stuff inside (and out) like a library space ship on wheels.

Sorry I digress. I actually visited twice before I selected a book. Of course my library card had expired so I set that up again. The book I had returned for was The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, a UK author who, fortunately for me, had already published more books in the series. The one I carefully placed in my carry bag was obviously well-handled so I thought that was a good sign. Please note the bookcover had been artistically distressed. The Well Of Lost Plots (above) is my favourite through the prose portal, although other readers don’t feel this way when it comes to favourites, but I think it suited my Literatech nature.

If I had been in an advertisement for Gold Lotto Pot of Gold I would have had a rainbow encircle me as I started to read.
What is going on? Is this bloke off his rocker? This is fantastic! What an oddly intriguing twist!
Spec-Ops inside books!
Thursday Next is promoted to Detective Sergeant and inducted into SpecOps-27, the Literary Detective division of the Special Operations Network.
As you may have guessed I also liked the late Douglas Adams and his Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy so perhaps I was already predisposed to Jasper Fforde – anyway he took everything one step further, then another, and soon I was racing along with Thursday Next in Bookworld, a place which is familiar yet different. Not too scary, not too weird, just right.
And Thursday’s career and family life grow with each book.
From our world to the worlds created inside books, some very well known, with many inventive twists – and humorous twists too.
I loved it. Still do!

GBW 2023

The Well Of Lost Plots (above) remains my favourite absurdist fiction story, although now I fluctuate having enjoyed a similar sense of weird comedic novels from UK author Jodi Taylor, her Chronicles of St Mary’s series about a group of disaster-prone historians who investigate major events throughout history… they are very clever, well, not necessarily the historians but the way Jodi Taylor writes them. I haven’t revisited either series in a while… sharpening focus… back to the world inside books…

Check out these titles:

Thursday Next Series
   1. The Eyre Affair (2001)
   2. Lost in a Good Book (2002)
   3. The Well of Lost Plots (2002)
   4. Something Rotten (2003)
   5. First Among Sequels (2007)
   6. One of Our Thursdays Is Missing (2011)
   7. The Woman Who Died A Lot (2012)

Jasper Fforde has written other book series for adults as well as teenage readers which I own and have reviewed in the past. Apparently he will have a looong awaited sequel Red Side Story to join his much-loved Shades Of Grey. Yes, ironically published at the same time as THAT book but no connection whatsoever. The blurb says “The long-awaited sequel to Jasper Fforde’s cult bestseller Shades of Grey, set in a world where social hierarchy revolves entirely around visual colour.”

I cannot stress enough how readable his books are so visit his website—https://www.jasperfforde.com/

Back again to my discovery story! Pretty soon I had devoured (and reviewed) Jasper Fforde’s subsequent books, starting with The Eyre Affair through to The Woman Who Died A Lot. Love his YA The Last Dragonslayer, a four-part series featuring young orphan Jennifer Strange, and his newer standalone novels are just as quirky, just as enjoyable.

I kept tabs on his works and even purchased merchandise, the black Spec-Ops cap still fits but the t-shirt is a tad small now. I attended his author talks and book festivals here in Australia and, another drumroll please, actually joined a private group chat at Brisbane Writers Festival with drinks and hors d’oeuvre and devoted fans. See blog https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2019/09/15/brisbane-writers-festival-notes-part-3/

The only glitch was that we were all too tongue-tied to actually chat to him like a real person. I think I said something about his newest standalone (not part of the Thursday Next series) but that was it. I will know better next time 😃

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023