A beautiful collection of short stories, each focused on one letter of the alphabet. Each letter is anthropomorphized and each story offers a snippet of their lives. Spanning all elements of life from childhood to old age, the stories are brief but beautiful, often packing an emotional punch. Peacock displays an obvious love of the language as she works to include as many words starting with the starring letter into each story. As with any collection of short stories, I had some favourites but none of the stories left me feeling dissatisfied. The book is also gorgeously illustrated by the collage style artwork of Kara Kosaka who adds an additional level of whimsy to the volume. Recommended for those who like short stories or anyone searching for a reading palate cleanser. ( )

In Alphabetique, Peacock has taken what I have always viewed in passing as our functional but otherwise blasé alphabet and breathed life into it. My first thought was that I was going to experience some playful, adult Dr. Seuss styled stories. Not quite Dr. Seuss, although some of the fun play on words does exist here. Instead, something much more inviting, invigorating and thought provoking was found. Peacock exhibits a playful side with her unique letter characters and her clever use of words that start with the same letter, giving life to the character personalities and their experiences. Peacock's poetic side shines here as the stories have a delicate fluidity and elegance to them. Some of the stories are fairy tale like in quality while others take on a more modern aspect. Common themes running through these stories - apart from the alphabet as the anchor theme - are internal question, quandary or personal choice challenges that needs to be answered or overcome. While charming on the surface, these stories resonate with wisdom, insight and longing. They also showcase Peacock's skill at fleshing out and putting in words a myriad of very human qualities and conditions. I marvel at the characters she has created: the determination contained within young e, the 'soon to be a new parent' worries of A, the identity searching/ denial/ realization of D, the caring quietude of C, the Hollywood legend aura of L and the burden of family guilt weighing on y. If the stories are not enough to capture your heart and your imagination like they did mine, the wonderful visual collages created by designer and illustrator Kosaka to pair with each story, makes this book a visual delight to behold. After reading this wonderful collection of short stories, I have now become a bit of a letter/font nerd.

Overall, a pleasantly surprising read for both the stories and the artwork. ( )