A to Z

The End of the Alphabet
CS Richardson
119 pages
Rating: 5/5

I rarely reread books. I can give you many excuses: I'm too tired, there's not enough time, too many new books in the world... I rather not. I just don't feel like rereading most books. The End of the Alphabet is so good that I just finished reading it for the second time in six months.

"This story is unlikely. Were it otherwise, or at the least more wished for, it would have begun on a Sunday morning. Early, as that was his best time of the day, and in April, that odd time between thin winter and a plump spring..."

Ambrose Zephyr and his wife Zipper find out Ambrose has only thirty days to live. Soon the two are traveling around the world alphabetically from Amsterdam to Zanzibar, trying to see all the places they have yet to see and visiting old favorites like Paris again. Throughout their travels, Ambrose and Zipper reflect on their past and present together, trying not to think about the dark future. The story is one of love that's realistic but yet subtle. The End of the Alphabet makes you impatient, waiting for newcomer CS Richardson to write another tale.

Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book in Canada and the Carribean Region