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In the Thursday Next series, there is an author named Daphne Farquitt. She is a prolific and popular writer, although all her books are pretty much the same unimaginative love stories. (With one exception, where the plot was accidentally changed during one of Thursdays adventures in BookWorld).

There has been some discussion if Daphne Farquitt is based upon a real person; consensus seems to be that she represents a type of writer.

This is perhaps evidenced by the fact that in "One of our Thursdays is Missing", she has her own part in BookWorld, implying that she is a genre of her own.

She is described as "a recluse's recluse"; she is literally never seen in the series.
Fforde has surprised us earlier with characters turning out to be someone else. But Daphne Farquitt is an extremely prolific writer;if she was someone else, it would have to be someone with lots of time on his or her hands.

So, do we know why Daphne Farquitt is never seen?
Is it possible that she is the secret identity of another character in the series; is there any evidence to that?

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  • I've been guessing that Daphne Farquitt is Thursdays mother; she's crazy enough, and she's very good at doing things that Thursday disapproves of!
    – Vixen Populi
    Jan 18, 2017 at 21:54
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    I thought she was the fake name of a Goliath Co book-writing-machine, but I can't remember if there were any actual clues to that or if it was just a guess on my part...
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Feb 27, 2017 at 16:12

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Daphne Farquitt may be a pseudonym, either an anonymous writer like Elena Ferrante or a collective pseudonym used by a group of writers, like Carolyn Keene or Franklin W. Dixon. Her last name is reminiscent of Lord Farquaad, and may similarly be intended to sound dirty. Being her own genre might suggest that "she" acts like Mills & Boon in the "Next" universe. "She" might even be from the BookWorld, which would explain all the free time she has!

As far as I know, there's no canon answer yet for who is operating behind this pseudonym, but given Jasper Fforde's style, I completely agree that it's bound to be someone we've already met.

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    Regarding the name, I think it's intended to reflect on the literary qualities of her works (bringing to mind "Daft F%ckwit", where f%ckwit is a British insult meaning an irritatingly foolish, useless or dim-witted person) - not to sound dirty or provocative
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Feb 27, 2017 at 16:10

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