The timing of book releases is something that can be informed to a certain extent by seasonal factors and trends; however, I’m sure that not many authors expected their latest novels to be released into a world in which many of us find ourselves glued to the latest pandemic headlines and with attention for little else. With the release of The Constant Rabbit, a satire on Brexit Britain, I expect Jasper Fforde could have wished for us all to be in a more reflective mood about the events surrounding the EU referendum, its attendant politics and fall-out.

The Constant Rabbit focuses on a society of anthropomorphised rabbits, converted to human-like form by a mysterious anthropomorphising event. While retaining some rabbit-like features, these rabbits are attempting to live alongside and integrate with humans. The novel’s protagonist, Peter Knox, lives in the rural English village Much Hemlock with his daughter Pippa, the two being the only relatively welcoming and liberal figures in a sea of reactionary conservatives who want to keep their village free from incoming rabbits. The village setting allows for plenty of gentle small-town humour, as well as an exploration of both local and global reactions to the idea of infiltration by ‘others’.

When a family of rabbits moves in next door to Peter and Pippa, with the mother of the family, Constance Rabbit, being an old college friend and possible flame of Peter’s, the action and the tensions begin to build. (The idea of between-species attraction was a step too far for me, and I started to visualise the rabbits as humans before I realised I was doing it). Peter lives a bit of a double life, having kept the exact nature of his job with RabCOT (Rabbit Compliance Taskforce) secret from Pippa, and it’s not long before he needs to start deciding where his loyalties lie.

There are lots of references to the state of UK politics (for example, the Prime Minister is one Nigel Smethwick, surprise winner of an election with his UK Anti Rabbit Party (UKARP), and the fringe groups to the right of UKARP are clearly observations on some of the lovely groups who assembled in the lead-up to the EU Referendum. The satire of the piece all gets a bit meta in one scene, in which various characters discuss whether the power of satire is to bring about change or simply to nudge feelings along in the right direction.

The Constant Rabbit is cleverly observed, funny in places and horrifying in others. I didn’t read it as quickly as I might have, and I think this is probably down to the overwhelmingly strange times we’re living in and the fact that I found it difficult to turn my attention back to the events of the last few years. However, themes of racism, bigotry and intolerance are clearly going nowhere and I hope this novel does find its mark.

In Jasper Fforde’s latest novel we are invited to imagine a world where just under a million anthropomorphised rabbits live side-by-side with humans; unfortunately, this interspecies relationship is not as harmonious as it should be. Most of the rabbits are forced to live in colonies with their rights to travel strictly controlled. Only a hundred thousand or so are allowed to live outside the fences, cohabiting, so to speak, with humans.

The United Kingdom Anti-Rabbit Party (UKARP) is currently in power and the Prime Minister, Nigel Smethwick, has very clear views on rabbits and their place in the world. To circumvent cunicular[1] criminality, and ensure obedience, rabbits are monitored by the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce, or RabCot.

Our protagonist of the piece, Peter Knox, lives in the idyllic English village of Much Hemlock with his daughter Pippa. Much Hemlock is everything an English Village should be and not being a home for rabbits is one of them thank you very much. It therefore comes as a bit of a shock to the village and the Parish Council when rabbits take up residence in the house next door to Peter. While not doing anything illegal it is thought it would be better if the rabbits ’moved on’. To this end Peter is persuaded to mediate, see how the land lies and how much it might cost to reach this amicable and sensible solution for everyone, except perhaps the rabbits. However, we learn Peter is a decent human being and isn’t that sympathetic with the other residents of the village, quite the opposite in fact.

The situation is somewhat complicated as Peter also works for the Western Region Rabbit Compliance Taskforce which is responsible for the 150,000 residents living in the hills above Ross. Peter is a Rabbit Identification Operative, or spotter, for RabCot; a gene anomaly allowing him to tell rabbits apart, which is harder than you might think.

Peter working for the system while also caring about people, be they rabbits or humans, gives us the main theme for the story and the extreme excesses some people will go to maintain what they believe is right, however corrupt and insane it may be.

In using rabbits as the object of irrational hate Mr Fforde has written an interesting novel displaying the human condition in all its glorious absurdity, thereby allowing observation without direct offence – except maybe to rabbits. The story had some very funny moments but also delved into the darker side of human nature and at times was emotionally graphic.

Wonderful wordplay as always from a Jasper Fforde novel and a joy to read. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, The Constant Rabbit is a subtle as a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster[2] and as much fun. That said it is not the best work of Mr Fforde in my opinion and might just be a bit too wacky for some. I would personally recommend any new Jasper Fforde readers check out Shades of Grey first – you will then become a lifelong fan of Mr Fforde’s work and won't be able to get enough. You should then read The Constant Rabbit and understand it for what it is – an enjoyable but none too subtle commentary on the madness of our times.

[1] We had to look it up as well. “Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a rabbit.”
[2] The effect of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is described as "like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped 'round a large gold brick." It has also been described in the HHGTTG as "the alcoholic equivalent to a mugging; expensive and bad for the head."

asper Fforde, I knew the name because of my brother, who I think has read most of his books. I was keen to give this book a go; however, I struggled to finish it and didn't connect with it at all.
In this story, some rabbits have become anthropomorphised during an unexplained Event in the 1950s.
The government is run by the United Kingdom Against Rabbit Population and is cracking down on the rights of 1.2 million rabbits and is attempting to rehome them in a vast purpose-built warren in Wales.
Peter Knox and his daughter Pippa, find you can befriend rabbits and humans, but not both. They are about to question everything they'd ever known about their friends and colleagues, their country, and their species.
Politics, prejudice, racism, bureaucracy, segregation, insularity and narrow-mindedness are interlinked throughout this story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and author Jasper Fforde for a pre-publication copy to review.

I hadn't read a Jasper Fforde book before, but always heard great things about him so was looking forward to reading this. However I think this will be the only one I read as I found it fairly obvious in the targets it was satirising and, although well written, I did find it quite dull in parts and wanting to be too clever.
Thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book

A polarising satire - I was looking forward to this as there are some Jasper Fforde books that I absolutely love - Shades of Grey was a masterpiece, ominous and funny, skewering bureaucracy and tribalism in a clever way. However, sometimes his books veer into puns and farce, which I enjoy less. This was a pretty enjoyable book, although it very occasionally tipped too far into silliness for me, once I'd accepted the premise (rabbits have become humanised but are treated as a lesser species) it read as an amusing satire of Brexit, xenophobia and politics, as well as being a thrilling plot in its own right. Not for everyone, but if you like Jasper Fforde, you'll love it!

I have a friend who raves about Jasper Fforde books and how hilarious and intelligent they are so I was keen to give this book a go. However, I have to say I struggled to finish it. I really didn't like it. I guess anthropomorphism just isn't for me. I simply can't suspend my disbelief. I was the same as a child, Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Toad of Toad Hall etc held no delight for me although I did shed tears for the Little Wooden Horse and Gobbolino. However, the human sized rabbits in this book held little interest for me. I could easily see what the author was trying to do, educate the reader about and illustrate casual racism, xenophobia, fear of "others" etc. but it was not nuanced and much too broad brushed which rendered the characters two dimensional. It was easy to see right from the start that the protaganist would fall for the sexy rabbit girl he had a vague crush on at uni. I didn't find it cute or funny. I sound awful but I just didn't connect with it at all.

What can I say? This is Jasper Fforde at his finest. A witty, thought provoking read that makes you sit up and take note of all the things going on around you. Love this author, was already a fan, but now even more so. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this and offer my review

Given that we are all living in the crazy world of lockdown, coping with a pandemic and led by duplicitous, conniving politicians, a land of anthropomorphised rabbits - possibly the result of some ill-fated laboratory experiment, or possibly not - is quite easy to accept! A few foxes and weasels and an African elephant are just the icing on the cake.

Anyway, that's where Jasper Fforde's book starts off and the arrival of the rabbits is the cue for middle England to complain that they are different from everybody else, they have too many children and, eventually, we will all be overrun. If that kind of language sounds familiar then that's because it is, and the book tackles the parochial snobbery, the casual and implicit racism, the right-wing tendencies and the smug self righteousness of the British middle classes head on.

However, it manages to maintain what is always a difficult satiric and comic balance. Some of the barbs are almost Swiftian and few miss their targets! It made me laugh out loud for good reasons! First off, the rabbits are cleverer, kinder and more sensible than the general population and, over the years, they have acquired rights. They live together peaceably but, of course, the Daily Mail readers (in this world the newspaper is likely called The Actual Truth) are obsessed with their birth-rate and their sexual precocity and view them as a threat. A repressive anti-rabbit government, led by the aptly named Nigel Smethwick of UKARP, employs anthropomorphised foxes and weasels as part of what might be called these days a 'hostile' policy. It is all very familiar!

Most of the action takes place in a typical Herefordshire village called Much Hemlock where Peter Knox, who works for the Rabbit Compliance Task force because he has the unusual ability to be able to tell one rabbit from another, has lived all his life. He is, however, still something of an outsider in the community because his politics are slightly left of centre. Without giving too much away, he and his daughter befriend the rabbits who arrive while the politicians are plotting to subjugate or even exterminate them. In the process, he crosses a humanoid supremacist group called TwoLegsGood and has problems with his Senior Group Leader whose name Ffoxe betrays his savage and barely concealed origins.

It all gets violent, dramatic and very funny and the story has an unexpected twist in its cottontail as well. Along the way, the asides keep on coming as Jasper Fforde lines up contemporary society in his sights and rarely misses. It's an extremely funny book, absolutely appropriate to our current times and well worth a read.

I’ve enjoyed work by Jasper Fforde before, so I was delighted when I got a copy of his latest, ‘The Constant Rabbit’ through NetGalley.

How to begin to talk about this joyfully eccentric work? I suppose the most important thing to say is that I absolutely loved it. Beyond that, it's difficult to say anything that will sound remotely coherent to anyone who isn't familiar with Fforde’s particular style of outlandish humour. This is a book set in a world populated, alongside humans, by anthropomorphic rabbits. The story is told by Peter Knox, who had met a rabbit, Connie, at university and fallen deeply in love. Not that his love was consummated or even, as far as he knew, requited. But when Connie turns up at the library where he volunteers for the six minutes it is open every fortnight, he wonders if he might ever be able to rekindle their relationship.

Things look up for Peter when Connie moves in to the house opposite. There are problems though. Connie, it turns out, is married and her husband, Major Rabbit, is a military veteran and crack shot. Peter earns his living working for RabCoT, the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce. RabCoT is part of the government response to the Event, when anthropomorphic rabbits first appeared. It is fair to say that the government's prime objective is not to improve life for rabbits. Since the electoral success of UKARP, fiercely anti-rabbit, RabCoT has been enforcing increasingly restrictive rules governing rabbits’ opportunities in human society. RabCoT is aided in this by anthropomorphic foxes, created by the same Event. It is fair to say that Fforde does not view the foxes sympathetically.

Will Peter’s love ever be reciprocated? Will Connie’s husband demand satisfaction in a duel? (With pistols: notions of honour are very traditional in the rabbit community.) Will RabCoT succeed in rounding up all the rabbits to work in a MegaWarren, specially built on the Welsh borders?

It’s a surprisingly gripping story. There is rather more violence and rather less sex than you might expect in a story about rabbits, but there are fascinating details about Peter Lorre (who played Ugarte in Casablanca and had bulging eyes), the car driven by Jake and Elwood in The Blues Brothers (a 1974 Dodge Monaco), and the name of the character played by Jenny Agutter in The Railway Children (Roberta but known as Bobby). If random side-tracks like this are not for you, you probably should avoid this book. It even has footnotes (with more than a nod to Terry Pratchett).

Is this just random silliness, or is there a point to it all? The library that is open for six minutes every fortnight should give you a clue: “the UKARP Government’s much-vaunted Rural Library Strategic Vision Action Group had kept libraries open as to per their election manifesto, but reduced the librarian staffing levels in Herefordshire to a single, solitary example working on greatly reduced hours – which meant that each of the county's twelve libraries could be open for precisely six minutes every two weeks.” Yes, we are maybe talking satire here. Maybe satire drives the whole story. Fforde gives us a further clue:

“The Event does have all the trappings of satire" I said, "although somewhat clumsy in execution."

I’d say ‘unsubtle’ rather than clumsy, but given that we live in an age where we have a Prime Minister whose response to national disaster is to quote Latin very badly at bemused audiences, I think the time for subtle satire has long since passed. And if unsubtle satire suits you (think Spitting Image with less sympathy for the establishment and more furry animals), then this will suit you very well indeed.

It races on like a bunny in a marathon (yes, there is) and may sometimes get carried away with its own exuberance (there are what look suspiciously like traces of an entire sub-plot that has been excised leaving just some odd, unexplained details) but it holds together surprisingly well. I found the ending both unexpected and satisfying. And it has the advantage that, quite apart from the satire, it is genuinely laugh aloud funny.

It’s not published until 2 July. I’d pre-order it now.

This story takes place in a world where an event has anthropomorphised, a number of animals, mainly rabbits. These man sized rabbits have been granted near full human rights but still face a good deal of prejudice, especially in rural Herefordshire where the story is set. Knox, our hero works as a spotter for the Rabbit Control Agency, he has a special gift for recognising individual rabbits, which all look the same to most people. While working he recognises an attractive young femal rabbit as one who was at university with him - at least until the rabbits were ejected from higher education. She moves in, with her family, to the house next door to the horror of the locals who don't want any rabbits in their village. The local want them out, either bought out or even jugged. As a satire on rural prejudice its rather weak, but as a comic fantasy thriller it works unexpectedly well.

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde is a satirical look at today’s Brexit Britain through the lens of a parallel universe Britain where a number of animals went through an anthropomorphic event in the 1960’s, became human-like and now have to live alongside humans.

The book looks at the lives of Peter Knox (a human) and Constance Rabbit (a rabbit) and how their stories and families become intertwined when they become next-door neighbours.

The story was enjoyable and the characters were believable within the context of their alternate universe. There were some very funny parts and I liked the way the author explained the anthropomorphic event as “probably satirical in origin”. A solid four stars for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

The most famous political allegory of fiction is George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. The intense battle of pigs versus humans, eventual power struggle & murder with themes of class and social struggle, is very much a modern tale, a mere 70 years after publication. In this 2020 dystopian world of Trump, Farage, fake news, and social engineering, you can certainly vouch for impeccable timing by the publishers, but, is The Constant Rabbit any good?

Well yes, it is, in places.

The satire is decidedly sharp and at times, it's very funny. The rabbits, following ‘the event’ of 1965, are anthropomorphic and are struggling to live side-by-side with humans in the present day. Peter Knox works for ‘Rabcon’ the government body (under the guise of working as an accountant) when in fact he’s a ‘spotter’. A talent that means he can recognize ANY rabbit (they all look the same of course), and criminalise them for an array of convictions. Peter meets an old rabbit female friend from his uni days, and being a rabbit sympathiser, he falls in love with her, she’s a spy, and the sinister world of mega-warrens, off-colony rabbits, and espionage are soon exposed.

It is a clever narrative and the influence of Otwell's '1984', juxtaposed with the weary world of modern-day politics, xenophobia, and immigration is very engaging. At times though, the characters are two dimensional, predictable, and to be honest, I struggled to finish it. Concluding with ‘the battle of may hill’ the book finishes climatically and history is changed. It is worth sticking with though, to see if the rabbits or the humans win?

A satire where an urbane man leads a respectable party against anthromorphised rabbits, and harder line militant groups harass them - where did that idea stem from? The opening of the book makes it sound like it will all be gentle fun, Peter Knox is organising a military precision issuing of library books, but it soon becomes clear that there is much more going on. Peter works as a spotter, one of only a few humans who recognise rabbits individually, and the reappearance of an old rabbit friend leads to a crisis of conscience for him over his job. But what can one man do?

It took me a while to get into this, but I enjoyed it when I did. Like most of Fforde's books, it's clever and pokes a lot of fun at society. The parallels are clear whilst there is the usual level of silliness in the details to entertain. His fans should appreciate it - even if we're all still waiting for Shades of Grey 2 really.

No one writes like Jasper Fforde. He has the ability to take the absurd & present it in a way that his version of an alternate society seems completely normal. So when you open this book & find yourself in an England where the neighbours are 6 ft. talking rabbits, you merely shrug & think “Oh, right. Forgot that happened.”

That would be the Spontaneous Anthropomorphic Event, an unexplained aligning of elements that resulted in walking/talking rabbits joining society (along with a few other small mammals but please don’t mention the bees). Sure, there are small differences. They tend to settle disputes with duels & have a thing for dandelion brandy (“the diabolical 3-way love child of methanol, crack cocaine & U-Boat fuel”)

The MC & narrator is Peter Knox, a (human) single dad who works for the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce. Although the bunnies are technically integrated, they are subject to slightly different rules. Most live “within the fence”, approved colonies with restricted movement. But some live in town. Peter is one of the few who can actually tell them apart & it’s his job to identify any who have broken laws.

By now, this set-up should have you thinking about real life historical parallels. Now lets add in a prime minister with a secret agenda to transport all rabbits to a government facility in Wales. It’s called the Mega-Warren & PM Nigel Smethwick publicly promotes it as a wonderful place for the furballs to socialize & feel safe. But his party (UK Anti-rabbit Party or UKARP) are avid supporters of segregation. His character is portrayed as a hilariously inept idiot surrounded by henchmen & scary PR people.

Peter’s trouble begins when he bumps into Connie, a stunning bunny he knew in university. His old crush is alive & well & as he gets swept up in her life, he’ll be forced to choose sides as tensions rise.

It’s an entertaining story that can be enjoyed on a couple of levels. On the surface it’s fun, witty satire. Fforde loads it with great characters, ridiculous government acronyms & plenty of that painfully polite British gift for understatement that borders on subversive. But if you look a little deeper, there are thinly veiled jabs at issues that sadly, are prevalent in real life. Fake news, racism, xenophobia & the need for those in power to portray anyone who thinks or looks differently as being “other”.

Dialogue is dryly funny & there are many comic moments that make this a great read, especially during a time when we could all use a good laugh. If you enjoy this, I highly recommend his series featuring Thursday Next, Literary Detective extraordinaire.

Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde a real thinker of a five-star read. This one has had my brain in a twist, it makes you think about how you have behaved in the past, as always with Jasper Fforde it’s a twisted and complex story with the craziest elements possible, but its underneath just a great story, it’s like being a tiny child and being told this amazing story from an eccentric relative. I would normally see this as being about politics and ignore it, as I don’t enjoy reading political story’s as they only ever give you one side of the story, but Jasper Fforde made it about so much more, there is a series message underlying this story, but there is a light-heartedness and quirkiness that will make you chuckle as you read, meaning you don’t realise that your mind is being opened as you take it all in. I really hope that everyone reads this, I know lots wont, but I do know I will be buying several copies for people I know as they could do with their minds opening.

Nobody knows why or how The Event occurred, but in 1965, 18 rabbits were transformed into human-sized and vaguely human-shaped versions of themselves overnight. Since then, they have done what rabbits do, and Britain has divided into those who are happy with or ambivalent about our new lagomorphic citizens. When Constance Rabbit and her family move into Hemlock Towers in the small town of Much Hemlock, the locals are not happy about it – not that they’re leporiphobic, obviously – and set Peter, an member of the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce, to watch over their unwelcome new neighbours. What nobody realises is that Peter and Connie go way back, leaving Peter to make the unenviable choice between job and species, and friendship.

The Constant Rabbit is a skilfully woven satire on the state of Great Britain’s politics and attitudes in modern times. If you’ve ever read Fforde before, you’ll know how realistic and complete his fictional worlds are, and this is no exception. His characters are completely believable, from the indecisive Peter to the bullish Clifford ‘Doc’ Rabbit to the insular and speciesist Mallett family. If you’ve not read Fforde before, you really need to sort yourself out – I suggest starting with his Thursday Next series.

It shouldn’t be possible to make a humorous novel that is essentially rooted in the darkness of racism, hate and persecution, but Fforde manages it very well. My only complaint was that it took a little while to get going, but once it did it absolutely stormed home.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very quirky read. Found it quite hard to get into and a bit simple compared with Jasper’s other books but a good read regardless

A satirical book about adult sized rabbits?! Yes please! And it didn't disappoint as Jasper Fforde writes in a way that only he can, throwing our human world and all its' issues under the bus, so to speak, to shed light on the prejudices and nimbyisms that affect us all!

50 years ago The Event happened, where 18 rabbits became semi human, and now there are 1.2 million of them as they have been breeding, well, like rabbits! This has upset many of the 'human' population and the rise of the UK Anti Rabbit Party ( I can't think WHO they are based on!) means that life for the rabbit population is unpleasant.

The story is told through the eyes of Peter Knox, a human rabbit spotter, who just wants to get on with everyone in the small community he lives in. When new neighbours arrive, Doc and Constance Rabbit, the majority of the locals do all they can to get them to move on, forcing Peter to take a stand and become a prominent supporter of the rabbits who just want to live their lives peacefully.

There is so much humour in this book that I often found myself chuckling at the absurdities and similarities to the world we live in! Even the library cuts in our world are mentioned wonderfully in this book as the locals find themselves just having 6 minutes to borrow books due to the cuts in staff! There's so many subtle digs at society that it was fun to see what would be mentioned next! There are rules for rabbits to live by, the issues facing humans and rabbits which are mostly the same and the discriminations facing them as they go about their business.

I have to say it did take a while for me to get in the flow with this story, as others have said in their reviews, but when it clicks it just becomes a fun, sarcasting and cutting read - the footnotes are always a joy to read and add even more humour to the proceedings!

As a avid reader of Jasper Fforde's previous work, I was so pleased to be given a copy of his soon to be published book by Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton in return for my honest opinion. 

The story takes place in the near future but the events that started it began in the sixties. It was such an original and interesting read. Involving anthropomorhised rabbits trying to coexist with humans in Britain! It was laugh out loud funny and ingeniously written. One of my favourite Jasper Fforde books so far!

It's due to be published 2nd July 2020 and I'd definitely recommend it if you want a good laugh alongside a very interesting read.

Where to start with this one . This is not my usual genre but the description made it appeal to me. A story of humans and rabbits living together after a number of rabbits became human sized after what became known as "The Event" . Martin works as a spotter to help identify rogue rabbits (known as Miffys) , but he has fond memories of a rabbit called Constance who he was at University with . He sees her in the library one day , later finding out she is moving in to the large house next door to his with her 3rd husband Doc . Doc suspects they are having an affair and things move on , leading to a duel in the end but not before the death of Martins boss Mr Ffoxe in unusual circumstances . A vast rehoming project for the rabbit colonies is proposed for a site in Wales but there is an ulterior motive for this supported by a vigilante group called 2legs good. . An interesting story with an unexpected outcome with many similarities to real life . Well worth reading if you suspend belief in the norm.