Jasper Fforde is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 novelist. Fforde's first novel, The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair is the first published novel by English author Jasper Fforde, released by Hodder and Stoughton in 2001. It takes place in alternative 1985, where literary detective Thursday Next pursues a master criminal through the world of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.-Plot summary:In a parallel...

, was published in 2001. Fforde is mainly known for his Thursday Next

Thursday Next

Thursday Next is the main protagonist in a series of comic fantasy, alternate history novels by the British author Jasper Fforde. She was first introduced in Fforde's first published novel, The Eyre Affair, released on July 19, 2001 by Hodder & Stoughton. , the series comprises six books, in two...

 novels, although he has written several books in the loosely connected Nursery Crime series and begun two more independent series: The Last Dragonslayer and Shades of Grey.
Fforde was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 11 January 1961. His father was John Standish Fforde, the 24th Chief Cashier for the Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...

 (whose signature appeared on sterling banknotes

Sterling banknotes

Sterling banknotes are the banknotes in circulation in the British Islands , denominated in pounds sterling . One pound is equivalent to 100 pence....

 during his time in office).