Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook114 pages1 hour
The End of the Alphabet
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Ambrose Zephyr and his wife Zappora Ashkenazi (“Zipper”) have achieved a happy and balanced life together. The two live contentedly in a narrow London terrace full of books.
That contentment is thrown into turmoil on Ambrose’s fiftieth birthday, when they receive the news that he has contracted a mysterious illness that will most certainly lead to his death within the month. In panicked delirium, from beneath their bed Ambrose withdraws an oxblood suitcase containing the ephemera of his long-suppressed life’s ambition: to travel the world in a pilgrimage through the alphabet, from Amsterdam to Zanzibar.
Scuttling the responsibilities of their respectably successful careers, the two set off on an urgent voyage through real and imagined geographies of place, of history, of art, and of love.
In Amsterdam, they revisit past debates on beauty and art. In Berlin, they weigh the burdens of history. In the glow of the Chartres windows, they explore the stations of life. In Deauville, they fondly recall their youthful love. At “E,” Ambrose adjusts his long-drafted itinerary, crossing out Elba and replacing it with the Eiffel Tower of Zipper’s beloved Paris, the city of their first predestined encounter. While resting in Florence beside the youthfully vital David, they meet a chivalrous old man who shares his insight into enduring romance. It is in Giza that Ambrose begins to falter as he climbs a pyramid, and they miss Haifa thanks to a sandstorm. In Istanbul, they realize that Ambrose can go no further and they must return to their London terrace. But their voyage is not over. The two continue their odyssey, no longer via plane and rail, but now through the power of shared desire and love.
In the tradition of romantic legend and fable, The End of the Alphabet is a lovingly rendered, richly nuanced treatise on the nature of true and enduring love. The story of Ambrose and Zappora is a precious gift, one that illuminates a pathway to the return of balance and joy after unthinkable loss.
That contentment is thrown into turmoil on Ambrose’s fiftieth birthday, when they receive the news that he has contracted a mysterious illness that will most certainly lead to his death within the month. In panicked delirium, from beneath their bed Ambrose withdraws an oxblood suitcase containing the ephemera of his long-suppressed life’s ambition: to travel the world in a pilgrimage through the alphabet, from Amsterdam to Zanzibar.
Scuttling the responsibilities of their respectably successful careers, the two set off on an urgent voyage through real and imagined geographies of place, of history, of art, and of love.
In Amsterdam, they revisit past debates on beauty and art. In Berlin, they weigh the burdens of history. In the glow of the Chartres windows, they explore the stations of life. In Deauville, they fondly recall their youthful love. At “E,” Ambrose adjusts his long-drafted itinerary, crossing out Elba and replacing it with the Eiffel Tower of Zipper’s beloved Paris, the city of their first predestined encounter. While resting in Florence beside the youthfully vital David, they meet a chivalrous old man who shares his insight into enduring romance. It is in Giza that Ambrose begins to falter as he climbs a pyramid, and they miss Haifa thanks to a sandstorm. In Istanbul, they realize that Ambrose can go no further and they must return to their London terrace. But their voyage is not over. The two continue their odyssey, no longer via plane and rail, but now through the power of shared desire and love.
In the tradition of romantic legend and fable, The End of the Alphabet is a lovingly rendered, richly nuanced treatise on the nature of true and enduring love. The story of Ambrose and Zappora is a precious gift, one that illuminates a pathway to the return of balance and joy after unthinkable loss.
Unavailable
Related to The End of the Alphabet
Related ebooks
The Old Ladies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFather of the Man: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wit and Humor of America, Volume IX (of X) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParnassus on Wheels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Apple Tree & Other Short Stories: Short story compilation from a Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Longest Journey: "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Haunted Bookshop: Including the Prequel "Parnassus on Wheels" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMagician's Hoard: Mysterious Charm, #3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Handful of Courage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiss Bracegirdle & Other Stories: "It was curious that the young man was almost precisely as he had pictured him" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Haunted Bookshop & The Prequel "Parnassus on Wheels" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Cigar Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMasterpieces of Mystery in Four Volumes: Ghost Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill Waburton: "To be at other people's orders brings out all the bad in me" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPel And The Faceless Corpse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Will, a Wish, a Wedding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsabel Clarendon - Volume II: “Think of the very words “novel,” “romance” — what do they mean but exaggeration of one bit of life?” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor The Defence: Dr. Thorndyke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radclyffe Hall: The Complete Novels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Men and a Maid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Agony Column Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuint Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hard Facts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoot of All Evil Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Heartbeat: "The basic trouble is that people make statements without sufficient data" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMother of God Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Boatbuilder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Strings Attached Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Action & Adventure Fiction For You
Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Italian! Impara l'Inglese! ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND: In Italian and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Eight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlawed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prodigal Summer: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bean Trees: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn German! Lerne Englisch! ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND: In German and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Notebook: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count of Monte Cristo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Scarlet Pimpernel Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We, the Drowned Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the World Running Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Darkness That Comes Before Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hour of the Assassin: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Most Dangerous Game Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King Must Die: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grace of Kings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The End of the Alphabet
Rating: 3.8095238095238093 out of 5 stars
4/5
21 ratings0 reviews