The Well of Lost Plots

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is book three in the Thursday next series. Swindon has become too hot, and so Thursday decides to hide out in book world, where she gets a job within the Well of Lost Plots (where unpublished novels languish) as part of the Character Exchange Programme, as a character in the unpublished novel, Caversham Heights. (funnily enough, I was in Caversham earlier today...)

We get all the witty dialogue and characters out of classic literature that we've seen in the previous books (not that this, or anything else will ever persuade me to *like* Dickens or Bronte - the horror of them is too deeply embedded), but the discussion on the "had had and that that problem" was simply priceless.

But I knew I was going to like this as soon as Thursday set foot aboard the one-engined Sunderland she called home. Why? Because my mum worked on Sunderlands for Short Bros during the war, and consequently it has long been one of my favourite aircraft, and any book with a flying boat in it (even a non-functional one!) will automatically get my vote!

Fforde's sense of humour tickles me in just the right places, and although I haven't read (and don't necessarily intend to read) all the classics he references, that doesn't in any way diminish the experience. Can't wait for the next one.

BTW the version I "read" was the unabridged audiobook from Audible.co.uk, narrated by Gabrielle Kruger, and I'd definitely recommend this format and narrator if you're interested in listening rather than reading.

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