The dangers of proximal alphabets

The dangers of proximal alphabets

2012 • 225 pages

Ratings3

Average rating3.7

15

"Two brothers, James and Jackson, have conversations in their sleep and their sister Ida listens in. While the world outside saw them as neighbors and friends, to each other the three formed a family unit--two brothers and a sister--not drawn from blood, but drawn from a deep need to fill a void in their single-parent households. Theirs is a relationship of communication without speaking, of understanding without judgment, of intimacy without rules and limits. But as the three of them mature and emotions become more complex, Ida and Jackson find themselves as more than just siblings. And when Jackson's somnabulance develops into violent outbursts and James is hospitalized, Ida is paralyzed by the events that threaten to shatter her family and to pull them beyond her reach. Kathleen Alcott's striking debut, The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets, is a charged and deeply layered love story that explores the dynamics of family when it defies bloodlines and societal conventions"--

Become a Librarian

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

I haven't been reading literary novels lately so perhaps that's why it took me a bit longer than usual to read the 200+ pages of this book, but I think I was in no rush to find out what happened next. I wasn't meant to, that isn't the point. Savoring the writing is the point and I thoroughly did.

April 28, 2022

Top Lists

See all (12)

List

247 books

Adult

The Time Keeper
Safe Haven
Warm Bodies
Rude awakenings of a Jane Austen addict
Confessions of a Jane Austen addict
The Night Circus
Sunset

List

568 books

Books I Own

The Forgotten Garden
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jane Eyre
Dear John
The Notebook
Sense and Sensibility
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

List

70 books

Arc

Here is Where
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
The Philosopher's Flight
Gone Girl
Where Things Come Back
A Jane Austen Education
Daisy Jones & The Six