Alphabet - Hardcover

Kathy Page

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 029760788X ISBN 13: 9780297607885

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004

Synopsis

Simon Austen arrives in prison at the age of 21, intelligent but illiterate, bitter, witty, vulnerable, good-looking, and guilty of a violent crime he refuses to discuss or address. Told he has a problem with women, but contemptuous of the resources he has to offer, he plans to reinvent himself according to his own vision and methods, his first step being to learn the alphabet and his second to find women to test himself on. To his surprise there's no shortage of women prepared to engage with him, guards, staff, visitors, even - and especially - when he does eventually reveal his crime. But can the love he finds wipe away his past or is something altogether more difficult required? What does it mean to 'come to terms' with being the perpetrator of a terrible crime? What kind of life is possible afterwards? Kathy writes, 'it's hard to express exactly how, but Alphabet is in some ways a twin, or half a pair, with The Story of My Face.

About this title

About the Author

Kathy Page was born in London. She spent several months in Finland researching this book and is currently living on a remote Canadian island with her husband and children for a year.

Review

'Page brilliantly captures the brutality of prison life' -- Kath Murphy SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY Page's prison work has given her a profound insight into the workings of the prison system as well as the minds of the prisoners, and she has written a truly gripping novel. -- Linda Maher Sunday Business Post 'ALPHABET is not just highly readable, but one of the strongest, most eloquent, most tightly constructed novels of 2004...It is a measure of the quiet artistry of ALPHABET that, out of material that would have been at home in the blackest of black comedies, Kathy Page has fashioned a fable about redemptive love... she has celebrated, with rare deftness, the resilience of the human heart.' -- David Robson SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ' a book which lets us see the humanity and vulnerability that accompany monstrous acts.' -- Roz Kaveny TIME OUT 'They (the main characters) are all there for the recognizable roles they represent but they are individually well-drawn and collectively they help to make the story compelling. Simon himself emerges with a strong credible personality.' -- Sarah Curtis TLS 'a truly compelling read, right to the last page.' NEW BOOKS MAGAZINE 'Page, by necessity, keeps her own prose quiet and unbotrusive, while her insight throws light on a painful struggle to understand through articulation.' MYSLEXIA 'It is a bracing study, emotionally nimble and intelligent, and forms a very fine novel.' -- Patrick Ness THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

About this edition

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 029760788X
• ISBN 13: 9780297607885
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264