Brontëana wrote to tell us that the next book in Jasper Fforde’s insanely brilliant Thursday Next series, War of the Words, to be published in July 2007, will feature Jane Austen herself. From the FAQ:

What is your next published book?

The fifth in the Thursday Next series. Yes, she’s back. Facing possibly the greatest danger to the bookworld since the abolition of the Net Book Agreement. And a few grammersites. And the replacement Miss Havisham. And Friday. And Jane Austen. And the end of the world (again). Thursday Next: First Among Sequels will hit the bookshops in July 2007.

Is that really going to be the title of the next Next?

No. We ran it past marketing and they said it might put people off who were new to the series. So I’m calling it War of the Words instead. At least, that’s what we’ve put in the back of The Fourth Bear, so it’s semi-official.

For those unfamiliar with the series, previous Austen-related content has included the location of Jurisfiction headquarters at Norland Park. A conversation between Thursday Next and Marianne Dashwood from Lost in a Good Book:

“What do you know about Jurisfiction?”

“They will be arriving shortly,” she explained. “Mrs. Dashwood might be beastly to Mama, but she understands self-preservation. We wouldn’t want to suffer the same tragic fate as Confusion and Conviviality, now would we?”

“Is that Austen?” I queried. “I’ve not even heard of it!”

Marianne sat down next to me and rested her hand on my arm.

“Mama said it was a socialist collective,” she confided in a hoarse whisper. “There was a revolution–they took over the entire book and decided to run ito n the principle of every character having an equal part, from the Duchess to the cobbler! I ask you! Jurisfiction tried to save it, of course, but it was too far gone–not even Ambrose could do anything. The entire book was…boojummed!”

She said the last word so seriously that I would have laughed had she not been staring at me so intensely with her dark brown eyes.

Here’s a bit more for your delectation:

“How do you find Norland, Miss Next?”

“Very lovely, Mrs. Dashwood.”

“Can I offer you a Crumbobbilous cutlet?” she asked in a clearly agitated manner, handing me a sideplate and napkin and indicating the food. “Or some tea?”

“No, thank you.”

“I’ll come straight to the point, Miss Next.”

“You seem most anxious to do so.”

She glanced furtively to the left and right and lowered her voice. “Does everyone out there think my husband and I are so very cruel, cutting the girls and their mother out of Henry Dashwood’s bequest?”

She looked at me so very seriously that I wanted to smile. “Well,” I began–

“Oh I knew it!” gasped Mrs. Dashwood. She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in a dramatic gesture. “I told John that we should reconsider–I expect out there we are burnt in effigy, reviled for our actions, damned for all time?”

“Not at all,” I said, attempting to console her. “Narratively speaking, without your actions there wouldn’t be much of a story.”

Mrs. Dashwood took a handkerchief from her cuff and dried her eyes, which, as far as I could see, had not even the smallest tear in them.

“You are so right, Miss Next. Thank you for your kind words–but if you hear anyone speaking ill of me, please tell them that it was my husband’s decision–I tried to stop him, believe me!”

“Of course,” I said, reassuring her. I made my excuses and left to find Miss Havisham.

“We call it minor character syndrome,” explained Miss Havisham after I rejoined her. “Quite common when an essentially minor character has a large and consequential part. She and her husband have allowed us the use of this roome ver since the trouble with Confusion and Conviviality. In return we make all Jane Austen books a matter of our special protection; we don’t want anything like that to happen again. There is a satellite office in the basement of Elsinore castle run by Mr. Falstaff–that’s him over there.”

The Editrix would like to take this opportunity to formally invite Mr. Fforde to marry her and bear her pointy-headed children.