Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey welcomes you to Chromatica, where the hierarchy of people is determined by the shades of color that you can see and rules are all important.

 Rule 9.3.88.32.025: “The cucumber and the tomato are both fruit; the avocado is a nut. To assist with the dietary requirements of vegetarians, on the first Tuesday of the month a chicken is officially a vegetable.”

Marriages are arranged to go up the social ladder for prestige, go down the social ladder for money or to strengthen a particular hue in a family line. But when Eddie Russett, a strong Red, finds Jane, a Grey who doesn’t follow the rules, he starts seeing the cracks in society and must decide whether he wants to conform to or question the rules.

Rule 1.1.2.02.03.15: “Marriage is an honorable estate and should not be used simply as an excuse for legal intercourse.”

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