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Something Beginning With
Verity Bell has very big eyes, alphabetical leanings and a look that says she'd like to get inside your brain somehow. Or so her best friend Sally tells her, confessing that back at their school, most children thought she was a witch. Sally, a fellow only-child to whom Verity has been glued since girlhood, has become a worry in her twenties because she has actually allowed a married man to set her up in a flat to be his mistress. Verity sees no correlation whatsoever between this retrograde and fairly shocking love-nest and her own transforming passion for a married man called John, who surely yearns to leave his wife and three children to be with her. Doesn't he? Verity lives in a world of her own and we glimpse her grudges (from 'ants' to the 'zeitgeist'), her personal development (from 'ambition' to wobbling') and her idiosyncratic network of obsessions (pick a letter, any letter) in a narrative arranged alphabetically by topics in the most curious and satisfying way.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Sarah Salway
25 books6 followersSarah Salway is a poet, novelist and journalist.
She is the author of three novels, including Something Beginning With, and the poetry collection, You Do Not Need Another Self-Help Book. She is currently the Canterbury Laureate and the Chair of the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society.
She is the author of three novels, including Something Beginning With, and the poetry collection, You Do Not Need Another Self-Help Book. She is currently the Canterbury Laureate and the Chair of the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 28, 2015
This book was published in the US as The ABCs of Love. Whatever the name, it’s not an easy book to describe. It’s written in an almost diary format, but the entries are alphabetically arranged. So, we have a few thoughts on Ambition, Ants and Attitude, before moving on to Baked Beans, Best Friends.. etc. In this way, Verity tells her story. It sounds odd, but it works.
We find out a little about her past, her feelings about her best friend’s affair with a married man, then also Verity’s own love affair, also with a married man.
On the surface, this appears to be your usual ‘chick lit’ type book, just told in an unusual way. However, Sarah’s skill is the way she writes her narrator.. she has captured a rather naive, easily-lead young girl, along with all her thoughts and feelings. It can be read as a rather straight-forward little tale, or if you look for it, you will find a lot more told between the lines. It’s a book that will make you smile, then make you think.
We find out a little about her past, her feelings about her best friend’s affair with a married man, then also Verity’s own love affair, also with a married man.
On the surface, this appears to be your usual ‘chick lit’ type book, just told in an unusual way. However, Sarah’s skill is the way she writes her narrator.. she has captured a rather naive, easily-lead young girl, along with all her thoughts and feelings. It can be read as a rather straight-forward little tale, or if you look for it, you will find a lot more told between the lines. It’s a book that will make you smile, then make you think.
September 7, 2019
A short, fast and quirky read at less than 180 pages. All the cover copy on this one says it’s “charming” and “bright” and that the narrator Verity is “endearingly naive,” but I didn’t find Verity endearing at all. She’s certainly naive, but also childish, spiteful and sometimes so kooky it stops being funny and becomes mystifying. I agree the writing is witty, often insightful, occasionally cynically very funny. But there’s a feeling of nastiness underlying everything that left me feeling more sad than charmed. And not to be dramatic about a single paragraph of text but the entry on “Fat Women” was both bizarrely vicious and completely irrelevant to the rest of the book; it’s short but it stuck with me! The format of this is great, and it’s an experimental style handled well, which I admire. But I hated how I felt reading it, all the same.
April 8, 2018
Apparently I read this before and reviewed it then as The ABCs of Love, but I disagree about reading this in an order other than the way it's laid out. I tried it but it doesn't really work. Why did I read it again? I didn't remember it so it certainly didn't make a strong impact. It was alright but I didn't care much for Verity let alone her friend Sally and as for the two husbands there is very little I could find positive to say about them. "My wife doesn't understand me" is such a pathetic excuse.
June 27, 2022
Maybe 3.5: I enjoyed the writing style and the original format of alphabetical entries with references to other sections at the end of each entry. I also enjoyed how short this book was: a bunch of flash essays tied together in a succinct format. Maybe the payoff wasn't as detailed as I had hoped, but I guess that's what real life can be like sometimes. I agree with one reviewer who used the word "quirky," and doesn't modern literature need more quirky and whimsy?
March 10, 2020
I loved this. Experimental, quirky, and funny.
December 20, 2010
Sarah Salway’s debut novel, Something Beginning With (aka The ABCs of Love) is the story of Verity Bell, a secretary in an industrial publishing company, who falls in love with a married man just as her best friend Sally’s own affair enters turbulent waters.
The most immediately striking thing about Something Beginning With is its structure: the novel is arranged like an encyclopedia, with alphabetical entries (which have headings from ‘Baked Beans’ to ‘Railway Stations’ and ‘True Romance’) and cross-references. What this does is make the narrative highly fragmented, so that passages from the fictional present jostle with recollections from Verity’s past and her inner wonderings. From these pieces, we build up a portrait of a young woman who is pretty insecure with herself, and not always a sympathetic character. From an early scene in which the eleven-year-old Verity destroys an ant colony with boiling water, Salway drops in these details that complicate and colour our mental image of Verity.
Perhaps Verity’s greatest wish in life is ‘to matter’ (p. 154), not to be one of those people who goes through life never being noticed by anyone. But she doesn’t make life easy for herself: emotionally, she can push people away; and, materially, she has the financial means to live much more comfortably than she does. The way Salway portrays Verity, and especially with that alphabetical structure, one starts to wonder just how much is not being said and what might be happening in between the passages of the text. On the strength of this, I’ll definitely be looking out for more of Sarah Salway’s work.
The most immediately striking thing about Something Beginning With is its structure: the novel is arranged like an encyclopedia, with alphabetical entries (which have headings from ‘Baked Beans’ to ‘Railway Stations’ and ‘True Romance’) and cross-references. What this does is make the narrative highly fragmented, so that passages from the fictional present jostle with recollections from Verity’s past and her inner wonderings. From these pieces, we build up a portrait of a young woman who is pretty insecure with herself, and not always a sympathetic character. From an early scene in which the eleven-year-old Verity destroys an ant colony with boiling water, Salway drops in these details that complicate and colour our mental image of Verity.
Perhaps Verity’s greatest wish in life is ‘to matter’ (p. 154), not to be one of those people who goes through life never being noticed by anyone. But she doesn’t make life easy for herself: emotionally, she can push people away; and, materially, she has the financial means to live much more comfortably than she does. The way Salway portrays Verity, and especially with that alphabetical structure, one starts to wonder just how much is not being said and what might be happening in between the passages of the text. On the strength of this, I’ll definitely be looking out for more of Sarah Salway’s work.
August 30, 2008
This is a very odd, quirky book - not quite like anything else I've ever read. Although it's a novel, it doesn't at first look like one - it's set out in small sections in alphabetical order, from "Ambition" to "Zzzz".
Because of the bitty, diary-like structure, I wondered at first if it might be a bit like Bridget Jones - but there's not much similarity, because the heroine, lonely 25-year-old secretary Verity, has a child-like, naive way of telling her story which is worlds away from Bridget! (To my surprise, at times I was reminded a little of Barbara Comyns, author of books like 'Our Spoons Came From Woolworths' whose narrators also have this naive quality.) I see from the brief blurb that author Sarah Salway is a short story writer and poet, and I'd be interested to track down more of her work.
I found this very readable, poignant and funny, but I'm giving it three stars rather than four because I was annoyed by the way it ended - suddenly stopping with nothing resolved and no real ending.
Because of the bitty, diary-like structure, I wondered at first if it might be a bit like Bridget Jones - but there's not much similarity, because the heroine, lonely 25-year-old secretary Verity, has a child-like, naive way of telling her story which is worlds away from Bridget! (To my surprise, at times I was reminded a little of Barbara Comyns, author of books like 'Our Spoons Came From Woolworths' whose narrators also have this naive quality.) I see from the brief blurb that author Sarah Salway is a short story writer and poet, and I'd be interested to track down more of her work.
I found this very readable, poignant and funny, but I'm giving it three stars rather than four because I was annoyed by the way it ended - suddenly stopping with nothing resolved and no real ending.
April 19, 2015
I've had this book sat on the bottom of my 'Yet to read' shelf. This shelf generally consists of books I have read the first few pages of and then left for months on end til I bother to return to it.
I wanted something easy to read, and I noticed this so thought I'd actually read it and finish it. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. I likes elements of the stories. Some moments I could relate to, and others I'm not sure I'll ever relate to.
The story was good, and I liked the layout. It reminded me of 'The Lover's Dictionary' by David Levithan. I have given this 5 stars, because 5 stars for me means I didn't find anything wrong with it. I read it, enjoyed it for what it is, and will remember the more storytelling parts with joy.
I'd like to have seen certain elements of the story explored in more depth, but I think the layout restricted this slightly, but either way it satisfied my need for an easy read!
I wanted something easy to read, and I noticed this so thought I'd actually read it and finish it. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. I likes elements of the stories. Some moments I could relate to, and others I'm not sure I'll ever relate to.
The story was good, and I liked the layout. It reminded me of 'The Lover's Dictionary' by David Levithan. I have given this 5 stars, because 5 stars for me means I didn't find anything wrong with it. I read it, enjoyed it for what it is, and will remember the more storytelling parts with joy.
I'd like to have seen certain elements of the story explored in more depth, but I think the layout restricted this slightly, but either way it satisfied my need for an easy read!
January 11, 2010
It's a good job that I'm familiar with Sarah Salway from her blog, as otherwise I doubt I'd have picked up her novel. It looked far too 'chick lit' for my liking, what with both the cartoon cover and the recommendations from the likes of Marie Claire.
However it would have been a loss not to read this. While first impressions introduce you to a dappy Verity who you just want to slap, as you get to know her it's hard not to warm to her. And by the end you just want to scoop her up and introduce her to a social circle who might treat her with more respect.
The alphabet structure worked very well throughout. Great little set pieces, with a gentle plot linking them together. It was easy to find many favourite moments - for me the pet leaf will be an image I'll never forget.
However it would have been a loss not to read this. While first impressions introduce you to a dappy Verity who you just want to slap, as you get to know her it's hard not to warm to her. And by the end you just want to scoop her up and introduce her to a social circle who might treat her with more respect.
The alphabet structure worked very well throughout. Great little set pieces, with a gentle plot linking them together. It was easy to find many favourite moments - for me the pet leaf will be an image I'll never forget.
January 12, 2025
what i liked most is the structure.
instead of chapters, it's alphabetical,
each letter has selected keywords which are developed in text and slowly tell the story,
with notes referring to other words, like a dictionary.
i wondered how the story would unfold in this way...but it did!
fun and refreshing!
i loved books with a twist, structures, layouts with a difference.
i was immediately inspired to use this book as a creative writing tool and introduced it to be used a bit like an on going list...so much fun!
instead of chapters, it's alphabetical,
each letter has selected keywords which are developed in text and slowly tell the story,
with notes referring to other words, like a dictionary.
i wondered how the story would unfold in this way...but it did!
fun and refreshing!
i loved books with a twist, structures, layouts with a difference.
i was immediately inspired to use this book as a creative writing tool and introduced it to be used a bit like an on going list...so much fun!
February 10, 2016
A simple novel. Simple way to describe this book is quirky, among other things.
The story is alphabetically arranged, like a dictionary, and yet the flow of the story is not awkward.
We felt the connection when reading it because it feels like reading somebody's diary. All the weird thoughts, all the truths without worrying that we (the readers) will be judgemental.
It feels weird. Original. Sometimes sad, but mostly quirky. I imagine Jess from 'New Girl' series acted by Zoey Deschanel is perfect for this character. Weird, quirky, big eyes, and beautiful.
The story is alphabetically arranged, like a dictionary, and yet the flow of the story is not awkward.
We felt the connection when reading it because it feels like reading somebody's diary. All the weird thoughts, all the truths without worrying that we (the readers) will be judgemental.
It feels weird. Original. Sometimes sad, but mostly quirky. I imagine Jess from 'New Girl' series acted by Zoey Deschanel is perfect for this character. Weird, quirky, big eyes, and beautiful.
April 29, 2021
A quirky read with a quirky voice that kept me thinking the narrator was a post-war girl, not a modern day one, so every time there was something about the text that brought me back to today's technology I had to put myself back into that time frame. Unusual set up from its alphabetized layout, like weird diary entries, some of which really spoke to me and really loved, especially the one under the 'Quick' heading... me through and through.
As quirky, fun and generous as its author, you will loose nothing reading this, and maybe come out of it feeling a bit lighter.
As quirky, fun and generous as its author, you will loose nothing reading this, and maybe come out of it feeling a bit lighter.
January 24, 2011
I read this after reading Neil Gaiman's review. I think, if you're like my friends who like Gaiman, this might not be the book for you. The book is divided into little stories that all go with a word. The words are in alphabetical order. I thought this would be a disaster. But the book functioned surprisingly better than I expected. I'd give this more stars but I'm not sure of the broad appeal. I really don't see the majority of my guy friends liking this book for example.
February 16, 2012
My Book is "Something Beginning With..." and I have no idea whether this is the same as "The ABCs..." but it's the only way I can put it in. You can read the book in any way you like as the topics are in alphabetical order and refer you to other items so you can follow trails in any direction, just as you do with Choose Your Own Adventures. Lots of fun. Of course you can change the book by choosing a different word to start with and heading in some other direction.
August 3, 2016
"Something Beginning With" is a much better title for this book, as "The ABCs of Love" makes it sound like a crappy romantic novel, which it isn't. It's extremely funny, with a humour reminiscent of Kate Atkinson, who I'm a big fan of, so it instantly appealed. I laughed out loud quite a few times - good job I wasn't reading it on the bus.
It's a book you can curl up on the sofa with, and read in a day.
It's a book you can curl up on the sofa with, and read in a day.
December 1, 2012
I've never laughed so much in a long time whilst reading a book. This one is very cleverly written, light and entertaining. A lot of things are very funny but it actually makes sense (well, at least I think it does... maybe because there are a few times that I thought I could actually relate with Verity haha!) All in all it's a good short read, suitable for taking with you on travels.
July 23, 2013
An interesting structure that encouraged more dipping in and out than reading all the way through in one go and I am still not sure if I liked the main character but I enjoyed the book and may well investigate other books by this author.
(the two different titles annoyed me but that's often a publisher thing, rather than an author thing.)
(the two different titles annoyed me but that's often a publisher thing, rather than an author thing.)
April 23, 2007
Overall this should probably get 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. However, there is one passage (that I'm unable to locate right now, but will find and post soon) that forces me to round up to 4 stars.
August 15, 2007
I remember reading this book either late in high school or early college. It has a bunch of short ideas about life/love under each letter and I couldn't get enough of it! It made me laugh out loud.
April 18, 2008
Não é nenhuma obra do outro mundo mas lê-se bem e distrai.
A sua piada reside em estar organizado por conceitos, ideias, substantivos (todos ordenados alfabeticamente) e mesmo assim conseguir que a história tenha alguma sequência.
A sua piada reside em estar organizado por conceitos, ideias, substantivos (todos ordenados alfabeticamente) e mesmo assim conseguir que a história tenha alguma sequência.
January 14, 2010
A great idea for a novel, I really enjoyed the layout and it was interesting to read small snippets that eventually formed a whole story as well as an alphabet. I found the main character endearingly naive.
January 7, 2011
Guh. Romance my fanny. This book reads as a jounal, with each one-word heading running a-z. This 'modern' british woman runs you through her days and thoughts on her friends, her history, love life, etc.. I've never wanted to pop a book character one in the kisser so much before. Whiny brat.
April 25, 2008
Boring, confusing, pointless. :-(
August 22, 2008
Interesting premise, very clear narrative voice, but a little disappointing at the end. On the other hand, the short alphabetical entries mesh really well with my shockingly short attention span.
September 15, 2008
Simply stunning.
November 19, 2008
not my usual chick lit
January 26, 2009
This is a cute story told in small sections on various topics.
December 6, 2010
Cool crazy!
July 18, 2011
charming and lovely! very funny. :-)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews