Questions for Publishers
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1: In a single sentence, how would you describe The Eyre Affair?
2: It's an incredibly inventive novel. Is your background creative?
3: You have been involved in blockbusters like Mask of Zorro, Goldeneye, Entrapment, and The Saint. What was your particular role in these productions?
4: Has this experience had any bearing on your writing The Eyre Affair, or any influence on the style of the book?
5: The Eyre Affair has been described as Lewis Carroll writing a detective story; you create an entire world recognisable yet distinctly different from our everyday reality. Was this a place conceived over time or invented as you wrote?
6: Why does the story take place in 1985 and (largely) in Swindon?
7: The literary references are obviously very important to the plot; not only is the heroine of Jane Eyre kidnapped in the main strand, there's also the hunt for genuine Shakespeare plays and the manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit being held to ransom. What's the background to this?
8: You also take a radically revisionist version of history in the novel, i.e. the Crimean War is still raging and Wales is a republic. Have you a particular interest in the historical?
9: Your main character is a 36 year old literary detective Thursday Next. Why did you choose a female lead?
10: Is The Eyre Affair the beginning of a series?
