About the Book
'Wise and playful and tender and beautiful' Bobby Palmer
'So brilliant, so original and lovely and funny, that it reminds you of the point of reading' Rebecca Wait
Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, this is a charming, witty and moving novel about what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent.
'Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes'
From her first words to her first day at school, Little Alien can't help but get things wrong. She doesn't understand the world the way others seem to, and the world doesn't seem to understand her either. Her anxious mum and meticulous dad, while well-intentioned, are of little help.
But when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript - a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script - she begins to suspect that there are other people who feel just like her. Convinced that translating this manuscript will offer the answers she needs, she sets out on a journey that will show her a delicious taste of freedom.
So begins this charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about the power of language, the wonder of libraries - and how to find a path that fits, when you yourself do not.
'Unique and thoroughly engaging. It is insightful and funny and gently poignant. By telling the story of one little alien, Alice Franklin has told the story of many' Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words
'Totally addictive and brilliant . . . Life Hacks for A Little Alien is sure to find its place as one of the best loved works of fiction' Aimee Walsh, author of Exile
'Immersive, moving, and fizzing with humour, I couldn't put this book down and I still can't let the character go' Paula Lichtarowicz, author of The Snow Hare
'A rare energy lights this wonderful book: a unique recipe of humour, heart, frankness, and an unstoppable fascination with language' Han Smith, author of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking
'Witty, bold, heart-warming and entirely delicious. I devoured it' Jyoti Patel, author of The Things that we Lost
About the Author :
Alice Franklin lives and works in London. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is her debut novel.
Review :
Unique and thoroughly engaging. Life Hacks for a Little Alien tells a story about feeling different. It is insightful and funny and gently poignant. By telling the story of one little alien, Alice Franklin has told the story of many. By creating a character obsessed with an ancient manuscript whose text cannot be deciphered, she has illuminated the power of language and our desire, whether we are human or alien, to be understood.
This is one of those rare books that is so brilliant, so original and lovely and funny, that it reminds you of the point of reading, and renews your faith in fiction. I adored it. I'm going to be recommending it to everyone I know. I laughed frequently while reading it, and was moved, and interested, and changed.
Wise and playful and tender and beautiful. A very special book
Stunningly original . . . It's one of those books which left me closing the final page and wishing I could read it afresh again for the first time. Beautiful, moving, and life-affirming, Alice Franklin's prose is a triumph to read. Totally addictive and brilliant . . . Life Hacks for A Little Alien is sure to find its place as one of the best loved works of fiction.
Witty, bold, heart-warming and entirely delicious. I devoured it. I found Little Alien to be one of the most memorable and charming characters I've ever come across.
A life-affirming, charming book full of wonders, a love letter to language and its power of connection and a must-read
A hymn to language, human uniqueness, and our fundamental need to connect, Life Hacks for a Little Alien speaks to the little alien inside all of us. Immersive, moving, and fizzing with humour, I couldn't put this book down and I still can't let the character go. Alice Franklin has written a tender and important story about difference and acceptance, and above all, the power of friendship. I absolutely loved it.
A rare energy lights this wonderful book: a unique recipe of humour, heart, frankness, and an unstoppable fascination with language.
An extraordinary debut about a little girl who feels alone in our world, Life Hacks for a Little Alien made me laugh, tear up, and feel hopeful. I love our Little Alien, the protagonist who sees the world with a remarkable wisdom that comes from her innocence and honesty, and I wish she were real so I could tell her how much her story is a perfect read for anyone who's ever felt different, misunderstood, or lonely-that is, for everyone
Franklin's fresh debut, inspired by her experience with autism, centres on an unnamed girl in southeast England known as Little Alien . . . As part of her desire to understand the greater connections between herself and life on Earth, Little Alien latches onto the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript, an indecipherable text believed by some to have been written by extraterrestrials . . . Franklin delightfully renders her neurodivergent protagonist's attempt to make sense of what's "normal" and to understand how language works . . . This has plenty of heart.
Originality and cerebral playfulness combine with affecting family drama to make a satisfying, lively novel.
We adore this audio that will make you smile and cry in equal measure . . . this captivating debut is a love letter to language, human individuality and togetherness.
Every once in a while, a novel comes along that so perfectly paints the world through a pair of young eyes, it makes me feel like I'm once again observing the world with the perceptiveness of a child. Life Hacks for a Little Alien takes the fundamentally tender experience of childhood.
Thought-provoking
Franklin certainly deserves to be mentioned in the company of Mark Haddon and Gail Honeyman, while having found her own, entirely distinctive voice, thanks to her inspired decision to tell the novel in the second person. It's a striking effect: the 'you' of the narrative is the 'Little Alien', while the
narrator, we sense, is also her; we see events both through her eyes and as outside observers. We are close enough to her to feel her sadness, anxiety and isolation, and detached enough to enjoy the comedy of her idiosyncratic perceptions. Little Alien is not the only unusual person here: everyone in Life Hacks is either distressingly (her mother) or enjoyably odd. A lovely debut.
This sparkling and stirring novel is an incredibly special debut
If you have had an Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine gap in your life for a while, then this might be the answer . . . it has the same sense of sage and spirited originality that brings total joy to the reading experience . . . A charming, witty and moving novel . . . Fizzes with energy.
It might still be too soon in the year to call it, but this looks set to be one of the most affecting and original reads of the year.
Life-affirming . . . Told from the perspective of an older linguist, Life Hacks tackles a world in which the character feels she doesn't belong. You'll take her to your heart.
Witty and heartfelt . . . Narrated by Sally Phillips, whose warmth and humour bring an extra layer of depth to this touching story
A wonderfully tender debut . . . Funny and moving
Superbly written. This is a sparkling debut.
