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The Night Alphabet

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The Night Alphabet

By: Joelle Taylor
Narrated by: Joelle Taylor
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About this listen

Composed of interconnecting stories, The Night Alphabet is a mesmerising blend of memoir, fiction and poetry, from one of the most talented literary stylists writing today.

The tattoo was a reclamation, a flag we mounted in the centre of our own landscape.

A woman walks into a tattoo parlour. But this is no ordinary woman, and this is Hackney in 2233. Jones' body is covered in tattoos but she wants to add one final inking to her gallery - a thin line of ink mixed with blood that connects her body art together, creating a unique map.

As the two artists set to work, Jones tells them the story behind each tattoo. As Jones is no ordinary woman, these are no ordinary stories: each one represents a doorway to a life Jones fell into, a 'remembering'. Some of these lives were in the past, others in the future, some are sideways, but each of them connects Jones to the two tattoo artists in some way, though they are unaware of it.

We visit the dystopian cities of the Quiet Men, the coal mines of 19th century Lancashire, join a gang of vigilante sex workers, enter the world of an INCEL murderer, haunt the old Maryville gay bar, and uncover plans to genetically modify female children. Each of the stories brings us closer to Jones' truth, and how her life is intricately interwoven with that of the women tattooing her body.

Set across geographies and timespans, The Night Alphabet is a dazzlingly bold and original work, a deep investigation into human nature and violence against women.

©2024 Joelle Taylor (P)2024 Quercus Editions Limited
Literary Fiction Magical Realism

Critic Reviews

The Night Alphabet is a glorious jewel of a novel, rich with language and story, that glows in your mind's eye long after you have set it down. Taylor manages to combine her vivid poetry with a truly engaging tale of female resilience, an Illustrated Woman for our times. (Sophie Ward, author of Love and Other Thought Experiments)

What listeners say about The Night Alphabet

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Rich and electrifying - I have fallen in love with this book

My new favourite book.
After loving Mona Awad’s Bunny, I was looking for something that hit me with the same courage in the prose, something feminist but not preachy, something deeply true but also fantastical.

I found it in The Night Alphabet.

I usually do not appreciate author-read audiobooks. But Taylor’s telling adds a power and richness in her authentic voice.

This first chapter may be a little disorienting for some. But it finds its direction soon enough - so stick with it.

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Language so beautifully rendered

Truly a beautiful beautiful use of language. Taylor is a magician with the English language creating worlds within worlds while gripping one’s heart strings till the very end.
I’m gobsmacked.

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if you love unusual stories then this book is perfect

the narrator was hard to follow terrible use of words I think I would have enjoyed the book with a more experienced narrator

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