Alphabet [Paperback]

Kathy Page (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2005

Simon Austen is serving a life sentence for murder. Intelligent but illiterate, charming but also damaged, brutal and manipulative, he admits to what he's done but his motives are far from clear, even to himself. Then Simon learns to read and write. From his high security prison he begins an illicit correspondence with a series of women. The more he learns - about them and about himself - the higher the stakes become. Simon finds himself on a perilous, unpredictable and sometimes hilarious journey as he stumbles towards self-knowledge and redemption.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Kathy Page's novel is a claustrophobic page-turner focused on a manipulative young man called Simon, who's serving a life sentence for having strangled his girlfriend... Page makes his journey towards partial redemption an intriguing one.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

About the Author

Kathy Page was born in London. She was Writer in Residence at a British prison in 1992 and lives on a remote Canadian island with her husband and children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks (April 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753818612
• ISBN-13: 978-0753818619
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,640,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping story with a tough message., October 26, 2004

By 

David Jones (Oxford. UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alphabet (Hardcover)

This novel manages to combine an uncanny knowledge of the bizzare intricacies of the prison system within a compelling narrative. The characters are drawn with sympathy but this is no sentimental portrait of a killer. Rather it is the complexities of the protaganist's personality and the way that this is gradually, painfully slowly, changed over a long period and through bumpy encounters with inflexible authority as well as those who show a genuine concern, which carries conviction.

It is a good read as well as a telling reminder of the way in which we can fail to fully comprehend our fellow human beings.