A review by jgwc54e5
The Edge of the Alphabet by Janet Frame

4.0

Janet Frame writes so beautifully, words just flow in a dream like way, travelling from a real situation to a characters thoughts, and she depicts loneliness and isolation in a sympathetic way. This novel has a narrator, Thora Pattern and she floats in between the story of three characters connected loosely by all travelling from New Zealand to England on the same boat. Toby is 35 and epileptic, he lives with his Dad, his mother recently died. He has dreams of writing a book about The Lost Tribe. He shares a cabin with Irish bus driver Pat. They meet Zoe, a teacher from the midlands and a spinster. All these characters are marginalised from society for all different reasons, health, class, lack of spouse, being a New Zealander, etc. It’s a sad book, even the minor characters seem isolated in their own ways.
The edge of the alphabet where words crumble and all forms of communication between the living are useless. One day we who live at the edge of the alphabet will find our speech.