The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel, Jasper Fforde; Penguin (Non-Classics)

“England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in Wordsworth poems, militant Baconians roam freely spreading the gospel that Bacon, not Shakespeare, penned those immortal works. And forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. This is all business as usual for brainy, bookish (and heat-packing) Thursday Next, a renowned Special Operative in literary detection — that is, until someone begins murdering characters from works of literature.”

Robin’s Note: The Thursday Next series, which starts with this first volume, is both a thrilling chase through literary crime as well as a hilarious jab at literary theory, history, and academia.  While the jokes can be more academic, the feeling of these books is as far from typical “literary fiction” as you can get.  Thursday Next is a no-nonsense, hard-bitten civil servant, and her adventures in and out of the famous works of fiction are never boring.

Tam Lin, Pamela Dean; Puffin

“In the ancient Scottish ballad “Tam Lin,” headstrong Janet defies Tam Lin to walk in her own land of Carterhaugh . . . and then must battle the Queen of Faery for possession of her lover’s body and soul. In this version of “Tam Lin,” masterfully crafted by Pamela Dean, Janet is a college student, “Carterhaugh” is Carter Hall at the university where her father teaches, and Tam Lin is a boy named Thomas Lane.”

Robin’s Note: This classic re-telling is as intelligent, witty, and romantic as it was when it was originally published in 1991 as part of the Fairy Tale series.  Janet is dealing with the freedom and academic inspiration of college as much as distinguishing first love from true love.  The elements of the ballad are masterfully woven in throughout, and but the strength of the book is the compelling original story, rather than relying on the plot of its source.  The literary references are frequent, capturing the love of scholarship, but at the same time it’s not necessary to know every connection to enjoy the powerful romance at the heart of the story.  Wordplay and romance are what made me think of this title, as it’s full of both, and is indeed great fun to get lost in.  Pamela Dean’s other novels are quite different, and this one stands out as one of her most engaging.