Satire exposes our lack of humanity

The Constant Rabbit

Author: Jasper Fforde Publisher: Hachette Australia

RRP: $32.99 Reviewer: Jessica Kramer

I DON’T believe in love at first sight, but I do believe in love within the first few chapters of an author’s book – however rare. For me, this was Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron, only two weeks before The Constant Rabbit popped up in my peripheral and I knew I had to read Fforde’s newest standalone novel.

The author is known for his satirical speculative fiction, mostly series, but The Constant Rabbit is so relevant to what’s going on in the world right now that it wouldn’t surprise me if this book quickly shoots to top of the board.

Set in an alternate 2020, there are 1.2 million humansized rabbits living in the UK; the product of a sudden anthropomorphising event 55 years ago, these rabbits can talk, walk upright, drive cars and work in factories.

Stay with me – satire, remember?

The cute and cosy village of Much Hemlock has been rabbit-free until now, when a family of four moves into the house opposite Peter Knox and his daughter Pippa.

Turns out, the villagers don’t much like the idea of rabbits in their Best Kept Village Awards’ forerunner town, and recruit Peter on the sly to bribe the family into moving out.

With leporiphobia blooming in the village, the enforced rabbit rehoming to “MegaWarren” in Wales looming, a blossoming romance, and Peter’s loyalties being tested at work with the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce, it’s not long before he and Pippa begin to question everything they’ve believed about their friendships, nation, and species.

If you think it sounds like a rather strange book after reading that, you’re not alone – but don’t let it put you off.

Fforde has a skill with writing speculative fiction where the reader doesn’t feel like it’s weird while reading about these alternative worlds; it seems utterly ordinary.

The strength of The Constant Rabbit, however, lies in its discourse on cultural differences, acceptance, humanity and racism.

It’s a powerful, eye-opening book that catches you unaware because it’s so inventive and humorously satirical.

At a few points, the characters muse about the satirical nature of the world they live in, which had me in hysterics at how self-aware the story is.

Then there were other moments where I felt genuine rage for the rabbits and how nonsensical the inequality was – and yet it reflects the inequality and racism in our own world.

In conclusion, you don’t come out the other end of this book without becoming acutely conscious of humanity’s shortcomings.

Hats off to Mr Fforde for writing a speculative fiction novel that is so painfully “real”.