THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS

People who love their silliness blasted with literary wit and panache will enjoy the third episode in the trials and tribulations of Thursday Next, Spec Ops agent provocateur. Thursday’s awaiting her baby’s birth. She’s hiding in a B-novel in “the well of lost plots,” the place where fiction is created and where books too bad to be published live. Elizabeth Sastre has perfected the occasionally air-headed, frequently befuddled Thursday. With words and allusions tumbling one over another in Fforde’s altered reality, Sastre’s performance is breathtaking. The seemingly unpronounceable comes trippingly off her tongue, and her frequent shifts between hilarity and hysteria are seamless. More than a good giggle, Fforde’s political satire pokes fun at voracious bureaucracies that threaten individuality in any world. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]