I'm over here on the left side of the pond and, despite the additional fees in shipping, have been advance ordering Mr. Fforde's books from Waterstones for some years. It is inconceivable to await a release here! Constant Rabbit, is at once a self-standing force of Fforde fantasy-fiction while, seemingly, essaying the evolving (devolving) human condition of today's ever more polarized world. As in life, here too, honest debate has fallen under the sheer weight intolerance to dissenting opinion. Violence in the masses a political tool manipulated from on high. There is much to enjoy; much more to reflect upon.

A new Jasper Fforde is something which is always more than welcome in my view and I have to say that with The Constant Rabbit, he has excelled himself. The premise of the plot is basically racism against rabbits and, whilst incredibly amusing it is also very chilling if you translate the allegory into real terms which, in view of current world news, it is impossible not to do. As usual with me Jasper Fforde rates a 5 star review and, if you haven’t read any of his previous novels, this would be a great place to start.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Constant Rabbit’ by Jasper Fforde in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 2 July in various formats. “England, 2020. There are 1.2 million human-sized rabbits living in the UK.” That teaser alone had me excited about this stand-alone satire by Fforde. As I began reading it on publication day, I bought its audiobook edition, narrated by Andrew Wincott, and listened alongside reading the eARC. Given its broad humour and satire it worked very well in the audiobook format. I lost count of the number of times that I was dissolving in tears of laughter. The reason that there are 1.2 million human-sized rabbits in the U.K. is that 55 years ago the Inexplicable Anthropomorphising Event occurred and eighteen rabbits were transformed into rabbit/human hybrids. They can walk, talk and drive cars. They also have their own rich culture. Over the years their numbers have grown, which is of concern to some humans. When a family of rabbits moves into the cozy little village of Much Hemlock, the villagers are not pleased and are determined that they must leave. However, their next door neighbours, Peter Knox and his daughter Pippa, are more welcoming. In actuality Peter had known Mrs Constance Rabbit when they were at university. Peter is in a difficult position as he is employed by the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce (RabCoT) as a Rabbit Identification Operative (aka Spotter), a human with the rare ability to tell rabbits apart. He is expected to be leporiphobic, but the good pay and benefits led him to disguise his positive feelings about rabbits. With the Anti Rabbit Party (UKARP) in power there is a plan for the enforced rehoming of all rabbits to a MegaWarren in Wales. There are also a number of Hominid Suprematist groups, the most violent of which is TwoLegsGood (2LG). It isn’t a great stretch to understand what aspects of modern society are the target of Fforde’s satire. While ‘The Constant Rabbit’ is extremely clever and funny, its underlying message is a powerful one. At one point Peter, Constance, and Patrick Finkle, a human founder member of the Rabbit Support Agency (RabSAg) discuss the role of satire: whether it is just “empty cleverness” or something more. Finkle reflects: “perhaps that’s what satire does - not change things wholesale but nudge the collective consciousness in a direction that favours justice and equality.” So alongside the laughs and whimsy there are insights and wisdom and plenty of nudges in the direction of justice and equality. Fforde includes handy footnotes to clarify certain points of history and the like. I could easily see this being heralded as the ‘Animal Farm’ of the 21st Century. This was just wonderful, thought provoking and very highly recommended.

I would love to read this book, and I’ve no doubt that I would love it as I’ve loved all the Jasper Fforde titles that have come before. Alas, I pre-ordered the signed edition online back in May, and I still have not received it. I live in the US, and it seems to have gotten lost along the way in the black hole that is our Customs. Have ordered several books from Waterstones with no issues. Absolutely devastated. Have tried multiple times to get someone from customer support to help me out, but I’ve gotten no responses as of yet. I’ll have to get it on my Kindle so I can give a proper review at some point :(

When a family of rabbits move into the small village of Much Hemlock, the villagers are in uproar. Despite working in the governmental rabbit compliance task force, Peter Knox finds himself questioning what it means to be human as all around him turn on his rabbit friends… I have never read one of Jasper Fforde’s books before, however when this book appeared on my NetGalley daily email I requested it from the blurb alone. A story of anthropomorphised rabbits which highlights the politics, racism and Brexit madness of the United Kingdom? What an amazing concept! It’s absurd but while it could have come across as just a bit ridiculous, it’s so well done that you find yourself believing in it fully. The world building is superb – there’s a lot of puns and pop culture rabbit references which have become ‘real world’ terms that are totally believable. Fforde keeps you immersed all the way through with snippets of ‘history’ at the start of chapters and also fun footnotes which explain the terms used. The plot itself is well rounded and I really enjoyed and empathised with the characters. As well as being laugh out loud funny in places, it also hits a darker humour whilst being thought provoking and also deeply moving in places as it pulls parallels from real-life. My only criticism would be that in the Kindle ARC that I was reading, the footnotes aren’t properly integrated. The first few are just a few paragraphs away from the note, which is fine considering you can change the font-size dramatically and it’s hard to know where to place them otherwise. However, later on in the book, they start just being placed at the end of chapters, which as the chapters are very viable in length becomes quite a tricky search which ruined the momentum of reading. I have seen footnotes on other Kindle books which pop-up when clicked and I think this would be a great way to display them if possible as they really are essential reading as you go through and shouldn’t be ignored! Overall, The Constant Rabbit is one of my Kindig Gems for the year – it’s a book I can’t stop recommending to everyone I know. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.