Misplaced Pages

#911088

76-417: The Eyre Affair is the debut novel by English author Jasper Fforde , published by Hodder and Stoughton in 2001. It takes place in an alternative 1985, where literary detective Thursday Next pursues a master criminal through the world of Charlotte Brontë 's 1847 novel Jane Eyre . Fforde had received 76 rejections for earlier works before being accepted by a publisher. Critical reception of this novel

152-495: A unitary authority on 1 April 1997, following a review by the Local Government Commission for England . The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of Wiltshire Council . Council elections are held in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats up for election in each of those years; beginning in 2026, the whole council will be elected every four years. Labour gained control of

228-655: A 19% swing at the same election. Prior to 1997 there was a single seat for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then part of the Devizes seat. Swindon is a town in northeast Wiltshire, 35 miles (56 km) west-northwest of Reading and the same distance east-northeast of Bristol 'as the crow flies'. The town is also 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Oxford , 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast of Birmingham , 71 miles (114 km) west of London and 60 miles (97 km) east of Cardiff. Swindon town centre

304-434: A 50/50 balance of males and females. By mid-2019, the estimated population of the unitary authority area was 222,193. In 2011, 57.5% of Swindonians identified themselves as Christians , a reduction from 70% in 2001. This was followed by those of no religion (31%), Muslims (1.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (1.2%), other (0.5%) and Judaism (0.1%). As of 2021, 46.6% of Swindonians identify themselves as Christians. This

380-556: A Built Up Area Subdivision with a population of 182,441. At the 2021 census, the only area covering most of the town was the Built Up Area, which had a population of 183,638. Excluded from this were the parts of Wichelstowe lying in Wroughton parish, the whole of Stratton St Margaret parish, and northern parts of St Andrews parish. By 2018, Swindon had a concentration of people originating from Saint Helena . After

456-535: A Scandinavian name akin to Sven and English swain, meaning a young man. Swindon is recorded in the Domesday Book as a manor in the hundred of Blagrove, Wiltshire . It was one of the larger manors, recorded as having 27 households and a rent value of £10 14s, which was divided among five landlords. Before the Battle of Hastings the Swindon estate was owned by an Anglo-Saxon thane called Leofgeat. After

532-521: A bundle of unrelated ideas on slips of paper", and, "instead of tossing them in a hat and choosing a few topics as the focus of his story, [he] grabbed the whole hat." Fforde's quirky writing style has led to comparisons with other notable writers, most frequently Douglas Adams , for similar "surrealism and satire", and Lewis Carroll , for similar "nonsense and wordplay". Reviewers have compared Fforde to other authors, including Woody Allen , Sara Paretsky , and Connie Willis . One critic wondered if Fforde

608-508: A campaign was launched to bring an updated form of county borough status to Swindon. This was successful in 1997 with the formation of Swindon Borough Council , covering the areas of the former Thamesdown and the former Highworth Rural District Council. In February 2008, The Times named Swindon as one of "The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain". Only Warrington had a lower ratio of house prices to household income in 2007, with

684-509: A literary detective who lives in London with her pet dodo Pickwick . ( Dodos have been recreated, as have Neanderthals , due to advanced genetic engineering technology on this alternate Earth). She is privately against the continuation of the war, as her brother was killed in action and her then fiancé Landen Parke-Laine lost a leg in combat. The trauma of the war led to the end of her relationship with Parke-Laine several years prior. As

760-469: A reputation than from first-time writers. For this reason, literary communities have created awards that help acknowledge exceptional debut novels. In contemporary British and American publishing markets, most authors receive only a small monetary advance before publication of their debut novel; in the rare exceptions when a large print run and high volume of sales are anticipated, the advance can be larger. For an example of an unusually high advance: in 2013,

836-451: A seemingly supernatural event, whereby she was able to physically enter the world of the novel and briefly became acquainted with Rochester. While recovering in hospital, she learns that, after fleeing the scene, Hades was seemingly killed in a car accident. She also meets a time-traveling future version of herself, who warns her that Hades survived the accident, and instructs her to take a LiteraTec job in her home town of Swindon . She takes

SECTION 10

#1732784009912

912-590: A theft of the original manuscript of Jane Eyre and kidnaps Jane for another ransom demand. This causes the text of all copies of the Jane Eyre novel to abruptly end at the moment of Jane's kidnapping, roughly halfway through the book. Next and Jack Schitt independently trace Hades to Wales. She rescues Mycroft and the Prose Portal, and returns Jane to the novel. However, she finds Aunt Polly stuck in one of Wordsworth's poems, and learns that Hades has gone into

988-434: A year, is typical for inland parts of Southern England, although significantly higher than most areas further north. Annual rainfall averages slightly under 720 mm (28 in) per year, with 123 days reporting over 1 mm (0.039 in) of rain. The 2011 census recorded a population of 209,156 people in the Swindon unitary authority area (including the town's urban area, Highworth , and other nearby parishes), with

1064-423: Is a separate, socialist nation. The book's fictional version of Jane Eyre ends with Jane accompanying her cousin, St. John Rivers, to India in order to help him with his missionary work. Society publicly debates literary questions (especially the question of Shakespearean authorship ), sometimes inspiring gang wars and murder. Regular law enforcement agencies still exist, alongside new specialized agencies under

1140-480: Is also equidistant from the county boundaries of Berkshire and Gloucestershire, both being 8 miles (13 km) away. The border with Oxfordshire is slightly closer, being around 5 miles (8 km) away. Swindon is within a landlocked county and is a considerable distance from any coastline. The nearest section of coast on the English Channel is near Christchurch, 56 miles (90 km) due south. Meanwhile,

1216-424: Is followed by those of no religion (40.5%), Muslims (2.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (2.5%), other (0.6%) and Judaism (0.1%). In 2015, Public Health England found that 70.4% of the population was either overweight or obese with a BMI greater than 25. In 2011, the area of the town was 46.2 km (17.8 sq mi) and there were 3,949 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,230/sq mi). In 2011, 16.7% of

1292-576: Is gaining popularity. Meanwhile, Goliath has been contracted to create a plasma rifle codenamed "STONK" to overpower the Russians. The weapon should be capable of destroying a tank with a single blast. Goliath promises that STONK will soon be standard issue to the British military. The plot revolves around Thursday Next , a single, thirty-six-year-old woman who is a veteran of the Crimean War and

1368-403: Is grievously injured. Thursday also discovers that the characters in the book must continually relive their lives, with full knowledge of how events turn out, and are unable to alter any of them. Thus, Rochester must repeatedly suffer the devastating loss of Jane when she runs away from him upon discovering his secret marriage. Thursday, who has befriended Rochester, resolves to change the ending of

1444-525: Is likely marginally cooler throughout the year. The absolute maximum is 34.9 °C (94.8 °F), recorded during August 1990. In an average year the warmest day should reach 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) and 10.3 days should register a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The absolute minimum is −16.0 °C (3.2 °F), recorded in January 1982, and in an average year 45.2 nights of air frost can be expected. Sunshine, at 1,565 hours

1520-491: Is one of several places in Swindon that bear the name of the famous engineer generally acknowledged with bringing the railways to the town. Despite the subsequent decline and closure of its railway works, Swindon was one of the fastest growing towns in Europe post-war as its economy diversified, attracting large international companies, who made use of its burgeoning population and strategic transport links. Major venues in

1596-524: Is seen as a pioneering figure in Swindon's post-war regeneration: his last act before retirement was to sign the contract for Swindon's tallest building, which is now named after him. Murray John's successor was David Maxwell Kent, appointed by the Swindon/Highworth Joint Committee in 1973: he had worked closely with Murray John and continued similar policies for a further twenty years. The Greater London Council withdrew from

SECTION 20

#1732784009912

1672-627: The Oxford English Dictionary , the earliest attested usage of "first novel" is from 1876. However, the term is much older, with instances going back to at least 1800. The Oxford English Dictionary does not have an entry for "debut novel". The earliest usage of "debut novel" in the Google Books database is 1930 (as of 2011 ). The term appears in newspapers as early as 1922, in a review of Marjorie L.C. Pickthall 's novel The Bridge . The Google Books Ngram Viewer shows

1748-527: The Köppen climate classification ), like the vast majority of the British Isles, with cool winters and warm summers. The nearest official weather station is RAF Lyneham , about 10 miles (16 km) west southwest of Swindon town centre. The weather station's elevation is 145 metres (476 ft) in a rural setting, compared to the typical 100 metres (330 ft) encountered around Swindon town centre, so

1824-510: The NHS . The Mechanics' Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building that looked rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative , raised the funds for this programme of self-improvement and paid the GWR £40 a year for its new home on a site at the heart of the railway village. It was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed

1900-570: The Norman Conquest , Swindon was split into five holdings: the largest was held between Miles Crispin and Odin the Chamberlain, and the second by Wadard , a knight in the service of Odo of Bayeux , brother of the king . The manors of Westlecot, Walcot, Rodbourne, Moredon and Stratton are also listed; all are now part of Swindon. The Goddard family were lord of the manor from the 16th century for many generations, living at

1976-533: The manor house , sometimes known as The Lawn. Swindon was a small market town , mainly for barter trade , until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town. The Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindon's growth. Construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810 and the North Wilts Canal in 1819 brought trade to

2052-573: The New Swindon Company was formed with the remit of regenerating the town centre, to improve Swindon's regional status. The main areas targeted were Union Square, The Promenade, The Hub, Swindon Central, North Star Village, The Campus, and the Public Realm. In August 2019, a secondary school in the town was at the centre of a ' county lines ' drug supply investigation by Wiltshire Police, with 40 pupils suspected of being involved in

2128-552: The New Swindon Industrial Society, which ran a retail business from a stall in the market at the institute. The institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy. When tuberculosis hit the new town, the Mechanics' Institute persuaded the industrial pioneers of North Wiltshire to agree that the railway's former employees should continue to receive medical attention from

2204-547: The Philosopher's Stone , only receive small initial print runs. Debut novels that do well will be reprinted as sales increase due to word of mouth popularity of the novels—publishers do not often run large marketing campaigns for debut novelists. There are numerous literary prizes for debut novels often associated with genre or nationality. These prizes are in recognition of the difficulties faced by debut novelists and bring attention to deserving works and authors. Some of

2280-711: The Pickwick Club (1837), all of which lack the complexity or stylistic characteristics which audiences praise in the authors' later work. There are however some debut novels that are regarded as the author's masterpiece , for example Gustave Flaubert 's Madame Bovary , Joseph Heller 's Catch 22 , Günter Grass ' The Tin Drum and Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart . Sometimes, instead of writing novels to begin their career, some authors will start with short stories , which can be easier to publish and allow authors to get started in writing fiction. According to

2356-467: The SM&;A ran on 10 September 1961, 80 years after the railway's first stretch opened. During the first half of the 20th century, the railway works was the town's largest employer and one of the biggest in the country, employing more than 14,500 workers. Alfred Williams (1877–1930) wrote about his life as a hammerman at the works. The works' decline started in 1960, when it rolled out Evening Star ,

The Eyre Affair - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-608: The Town Development Agreement and the local council continued the development on its own. There was the problem of the Western Development and of Lydiard Park being in the new North Wiltshire district, but this was resolved by a boundary change to take in part of North Wiltshire. Another factor limiting local decision-taking was the continuing role of Wiltshire County Council in the administration of Swindon. Together with like-minded councils,

2508-560: The area, and Swindon's population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Swindon Works was built for the repair and maintenance of locomotives on the Great Western Railway (GWR). The GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage , including the English Heritage Archive , now occupy part of the old works. In

2584-500: The areas of Penhill and Pinehurst. Oxford clay makes up the rest of the borough. The River Ray rises at Wroughton and forms much of the borough's western boundary, joining the Thames which defines the northern boundary, and the source of which is located in nearby Kemble, Gloucestershire . The River Cole and its tributaries flow northeastward from the town and form the northeastern boundary. Swindon has an oceanic climate ( Cfb in

2660-537: The author gains a literary reputation. There are exceptions, however; YouTuber Zoella published her debut novel Girl Online in November 2014, and the book sold 78,109 copies in Britain in its first week. The novel saw huge sales because she already had an established audience, and publishers were willing to run a large print run. By comparison, bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey sold 14,814 copies in its first week, or later popular novels, like Harry Potter and

2736-471: The author's typical literary characteristics . Huffington Post ' s Dave Astor attributes these to two forces: first that authors are still learning their own unique style and audiences are more willing to read works from unknown authors if they resemble more conventional styles of literature. As examples, Astor points to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman (1969) and Charles Dickens' The Posthumous Papers of

2812-515: The average household income in Swindon among the highest in the country. In October 2008, Swindon Council made a controversial move to ban fixed point speed cameras . The move was branded as reckless by some, but by November 2008 Portsmouth , Walsall , and Birmingham councils were also considering the move. In 2001, construction began on Priory Vale , the third and final instalment in Swindon's 'Northern Expansion' project, which began with Abbey Meads and continued at St Andrew's Ridge. In 2002,

2888-411: The book to a happy one. She changes events to reunite Jane and Rochester (in other words, she alters the ending to match the actual ending to Jane Eyre ). Returning to her own world, Next uses the Prose Portal to release her Aunt Polly, while Jack Schitt reveals that his interest is in the device. Goliath had never been able to perfect STONK as a feasible weapon. Therefore, with their deadline to deliver

2964-413: The capital needed to market books by an unknown author to the public. Most publishers purchase rights to novels, especially debut novels, through literary agents , who screen client work before sending it to publishers. These hurdles to publishing reflect both publishers' limits in resources for reviewing and publishing unknown works, and that readers typically buy more books from established authors with

3040-409: The capture attempt she is shot, but a copy of Jane Eyre stops Hades's bullet. A mysterious stranger aids her until the paramedics arrive, leaving behind a handkerchief monogrammed with the letters "E.F.R." and a 19th-century style jacket. Next recognizes these items as belonging to Edward Fairfax Rochester, a fictional character from Jane Eyre . During a flashback to her childhood, Thursday remembers

3116-682: The council from the Conservatives at the 2023 election , and increased their majority in 2024 . Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. Heidi Alexander (Labour) was elected for the Swindon South seat in July 2024 with a 16% swing from the Conservatives. Will Stone , also Labour, represents Swindon North – which covers the whole of the north of the borough, including Blunsdon and Highworth – after

The Eyre Affair - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-731: The doctors of the GWR Medical Society Fund, which the institute had played a role in establishing and funding. Swindon's 'other' railway, the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway , merged with the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway to form the Midland & South Western Junction Railway , which set out to join the London & South Western Railway with the Midland Railway at Cheltenham . The Swindon, Marlborough & Andover had planned to tunnel under

3268-566: The eastern limit of the Bristol Channel , just north of Weston-super-mare , lies 53 miles (85 km) to the west. The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east. The Old Town stands on a hill of Purbeck and Portland stone; this was quarried from Roman times until the 1950s. The area that was known as New Swindon is made up of mostly Kimmeridge clay with outcrops of Corrallian clay in

3344-717: The end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks at RAF Fairford , about 25 km (16 mi) to the north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered. The 2001 UK Census found that most of the Polish-born people had stayed or returned after serving with British forces during World War II. Swindon and Nottingham were parts of this settlement. Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Polish-born. Notes to those data read: "The Polish Resettlement Act of 1947 , which

3420-522: The excitement of finding authors and writers without established legacies. In the same piece for the Times , Ayana Mathis describes the debut novel as "a piece of the writer's soul in a way that subsequent books can't ever be", because the novel is necessarily a work of passion and a product of all of their life before that moment. Often an author's first novel will not be as complex stylistically or thematically as subsequent works and often will not feature

3496-408: The fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post, the dentist extracted more than 2,000 teeth. From the opening in 1892 of the health centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for

3572-403: The highly anticipated City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg captured the attention of ten publishers who started a bidding war that ended with Knopf buying the rights to the book for 2 million dollars. The book's film production rights were purchased soon after by producer Scott Rudin . For similar reasons that advances are frequently not very large—novels frequently do not sell well until

3648-630: The hill on which Swindon's Old Town stands but the money ran out and the railway ran into Swindon Town railway station , off Devizes Road in the Old Town, skirting the new town to the west, intersecting with the GWR at Rushey Platt and heading north for Cirencester , Cheltenham and the LMS , whose 'Midland Red' livery the M&;SWJR adopted. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around

3724-422: The job, and while visiting her family there, she discovers that her brilliant Uncle Mycroft and Aunt Polly have created the Prose Portal, a device that allows people to enter works of fiction. At home, she renews an acquaintance with her ex-fiancé Parke-Laine. She also meets, and is forced to work with, a high-ranking Goliath operative named Jack Schitt, who is similarly investigating Hades. Hades, meanwhile, steals

3800-514: The last steam engine to be built in the UK. The works lost its locomotive building role and took on rolling stock maintenance for British Rail . In the late 1970s, much of the works closed and the rest followed in 1986. The community centre in the railway village was originally the barrack accommodation for railway employees of the GWR. The building became the Railway Museum in the 1960s, until

3876-504: The main line between London and Bristol . In 1900, the original market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town. On 1 July 1923, the GWR took over the largely single-track M&SWJR and the line northwards from Swindon Town was diverted to Swindon Junction station, leaving the Town station with only the line south to Andover and Salisbury. The last passenger trains on what had been

SECTION 50

#1732784009912

3952-866: The more prestigious awards around the world include the American Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award , the French Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman , the British Guardian First Book Award , the German Aspekte-Literaturpreis and the Japanese Noma Literary Prize . The New York Times commentator Leslie Jamison described the big, and often very public, "to do" about debut novels and novelists created by these book awards, as associated with

4028-533: The new ending for Jane Eyre is positive, but there are other repercussions, including Goliath's fury. The book was generally acclaimed, with critics calling it "playfully irreverent", "delightfully daft", "whoppingly imaginative", and "a work of ... startling originality". The " genre-busting " novel spans numerous types of literature, with critics identifying aspects of fantasy , science fiction , mystery , satire , romance , and thriller . This led one critic to jokingly suggest that Fforde "must have jotted

4104-461: The opening of the STEAM Museum in the 2000s. The Second World War saw an influx of new industries as part of the war effort; Vickers-Armstrong making aircraft at Stratton, and Plessey at Cheney Manor producing electrical components. By 1960, Plessey had become Swindon's biggest employer, with a predominantly female workforce. David Murray John , Swindon's town clerk from 1938 to 1974,

4180-494: The original manuscript of Charles Dickens 's Martin Chuzzlewit . He also kidnaps Mycroft, Polly, and the Prose Portal in order to blackmail the literary world; any changes made to the plot of a novel's original manuscript will change all other copies. To demonstrate his demands are serious, Hades kills Mr Quaverley, a minor character from the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit . When his demands are not met, he stages

4256-446: The original text of Jane Eyre carrying the scrap of paper on which Polly is imprisoned. Next pursues Hades. After several weeks in the novel (which pass in the outside world much more quickly, as the book rewrites itself after Jane is returned) and much trouble, she succeeds in killing Hades and recovering the poem with Polly in it. In the process, Thornfield Hall is burned, Rochester's mad wife Bertha falls to her death, and Rochester

4332-499: The population of Swindon were non-White British compared with 15.4% in the surrounding borough. There was also little difference between the percentages of Black and Asian residents. Swindon is one of the most ethnically diverse towns in South West England : 4.6% of the population registered themselves as 'Other White' and 2.5% of the population was either mixed race or of another ethnicity. There are several definitions of

4408-418: The portal. Using her new celebrity status, Next enters a televised debate between supporters and opponents of the continuation of the Crimean War. Supporters of the war assume that Goliath's plasma rifles will be sufficient to guarantee victory. But in the debate, Next publicly reveals that the plasma rifles do not work. This forces England to rethink its position, which leads to peace negotiations and an end to

4484-511: The railway's workforce into some of the country's best-educated manual workers. The Mechanics' Institute had the UK's first lending library , and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and various other activities, such as ambulance classes and xylophone lessons. A former institute secretary formed the New Swindon Co-operative Society in 1853 which, after a schism in the society's membership, spawned

4560-532: The single organization SpecOps (Special Operations). The more than 20 branches include SpecOps 12, the Chronoguard, who police all events related to time travel , and SpecOps 27, the Literary Detectives, or "LiteraTecs", who deal with all literature-related crimes. The Crimean War is a cold conflict with both sides at a stalemate but too stubborn to call for peace. A peace movement in Britain

4636-496: The story begins, Thursday is promoted to assist in the capture of a wanted terrorist, Acheron Hades , her former university professor who has become a mysterious criminal mastermind. Thursday is the only living person who can recognize him, and nearly captures him during a stakeout, but Hades possesses several superhuman abilities, such as mental manipulation and extreme durability, and uses those powers to withstand her gunfire. He evades capture and kills Thursday's entire team. During

SECTION 60

#1732784009912

4712-466: The story, and creates high adventure and wild drama around the porous boundaries between fiction and real life." Some reviewers criticised the novel for "convoluted" plots and "dangling details", as well as inconsistent dialogue that "can veer from wittily wicked to non-sequitur", and minor characters who "drift in and out of scenes". Debut novel Sometimes new novelists will self-publish their debut novels, because publishing houses will not risk

4788-528: The supply of cannabis and cocaine, and girls as young as 14 being coerced into sexual activity in exchange for drugs. The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of the areas of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural District. It was not initially called Swindon, because the borough covers a larger area than the town; it was renamed as the Borough of Swindon in 1997. The borough became

4864-521: The term becoming more widely used after about 1980, gaining in popularity since. Swindon Swindon ( / ˈ s w ɪ n d ən / ) is a large town in Wiltshire , England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located in South West England , Swindon lies on the M4 corridor , 71 miles (114km) to

4940-553: The town centre. Other sports in the town include Swindon Wildcats Ice Hockey and five-time British speedway champions the Swindon Robins . The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, Sweyn being

5016-435: The town for statistical purposes. The smallest extent is the former unparished area , now covered by the parishes of West Swindon , Central Swindon North , South Swindon , and Nythe, Eldene and Liden ; thus it omits suburbs to the east and north, namely the parishes of Covingham , Stratton St Margaret and Haydon Wick . At the 2011 census, the population of the unparished area was 122,642. The 2011 census also recognised

5092-594: The town include the Wyvern Theatre and the Mechanics' Institute . Lydiard Park has hosted festivals such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend , while the Swindon Mela, an all-day celebration of South Indian arts and culture, attracts up to 10,000 visitors a year. The ancient Ridgeway , known as Britain's oldest road, runs a few miles to Swindon's south, with Avebury , the largest megalithic stone circle in

5168-616: The village were the GWR Medical Fund Clinic at Park House and its hospital, both on Faringdon Road, and the 1892 health centre in Milton Road, which housed clinics, a pharmacy, laundries, baths, Victorian Turkish baths and swimming pools, was almost opposite. From 1871, GWR workers had a small amount deducted from their weekly pay and put into a healthcare fund; GWR doctors could prescribe them or their family members medicines or send them for medical treatment. In 1878

5244-508: The war. Next shows up at the church where Parke-Laine is about to be married to another woman, but Rochester's lawyer interrupts the wedding to reveal that the bride is already married. Next and Parke-Laine are reconciled and marry instead. Next's father, a renegade agent from SpecOps-12, the ChronoGuard, turns up to dispense some fatherly advice to his daughter. The novel ends with Next facing an uncertain future at work: public reaction to

5320-417: The weapons to the military, he had resolved to extract working STONKs from the weapon's manual, itself a work of fiction, as the weapons don't work. Thursday reluctantly agrees to let Schitt use the portal for this endeavor, but switches the book connected to the portal to be the text of Edgar Allan Poe 's " The Raven ". When the portal opens, she pushes Schitt inside, and traps him there, while Mycroft destroys

5396-475: The west of London and 36 miles (57 km) to the east of Bristol . The Cotswolds lie just to the town's north and the North Wessex Downs to its south. Recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune , the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1843 transformed it from a small market town of 2,500 into a thriving railway hub that would become one of the largest railway engineering complexes in

5472-545: The world at its peak. This brought with it pioneering amenities such as the UK's first lending library and a 'cradle-to-grave' healthcare centre that was later used as a blueprint for the NHS. Swindon's railway heritage can be primarily seen today with the grade 2 listed Railway Village and STEAM Museum . The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is housed in the renovated former works and the Brunel Shopping Centre

5548-523: The world, and Uffington White Horse , Britain's oldest white horse figure, also nearby. Wiltshire's only professional football club Swindon Town F.C. , have played in the Premier League in the 1993/94 season and won a major trophy, securing a famous giant-killing victory over Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup final . They currently play in League Two at the 15,000-seat County Ground in

5624-501: Was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people ... at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional [qualifications] gained overseas ... [but] many did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steelworks. Housing was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used for POWs ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with

5700-561: Was generally positive, remarking on its originality. In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; although now a republic (with entertainer George Formby as its president ), England still also has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath Corporation (a powerful weapon-producing company with questionable morals); and Wales

5776-418: Was more " Monty Python crossed with Terry Pratchett , or J. K. Rowling mixed with Douglas Adams ." The novel was praised for its fast-paced action, wordplay, and "off-centre humour". Mary Hamilton of The Guardian described the experience as "the page opens like a trapdoor and you simply fall through. The Eyre Affair takes that feeling, the moment you lose the sense of yourself and become engrossed in

#911088