By Megan V
The novel Ella Minnow Pea, written by Mark Dunn, is a short novel following the life of our main character Ella along with other residents of the island Nollop. This island, located just off the coast of the United States, is a haven for those who value knowledge and language. They revere Nevin Nollop, the creator of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," a phrase which features every letter of the English alphabet with the smallest amount of repeats in only 35 characters. A statue stands in the town center in memorial too Nollop's great accomplishment and proudly displays his pangram across tiles at its base. Ella Minnow Pea lives in the town and exchanges letters with various residents along with her cousin. The people in the town live a safe and happy life where they are governed by a council who makes the laws.
Things suddenly change when one of the letters attached to the memorial of Nollop falls. Many of the townspeople think nothing of it, being that the statue is hundreds of years old. The council however goes into a frenzy and holds an emergency meeting. They then deem that the fallen letter must be removed from the alphabet, as a sign of Nollop's wishes from beyond the grave. The letter is not to be spoken, written or read by any townspeople and those who disobey will face punishment. There is not much of a reaction from this verdict, as the first letter to fall was Z, a widely unused part of the English alphabet. The townspeople take it as a fun challenge, and an introduction into a new era.
Things begin to shift however as more letters begin to fall and are subsequently nixed from the available literary repertoire. First Q, then J and D. The citizens of the island begin to struggle, one misplaced letter is a warning. The next results in time in the stocks or a number of lashes from the whip. The third offense results in permanent expulsion from the island. Books, language and other forms of the written word are destroyed, names are changed, and newspapers are harshly monitored. As more letters fall, residents begin to rebel and they are challenged by the council to come up with a new phrase, using every letter as Nollop did but in 32 letters. The council deems this challenge impossible, but for the people it becomes a race against time to restore the alphabet before everything falls apart.
This novel was written in the form of letters, exchanged mostly between Ella and her cousin Tassie but also between Ella's mother, father and friends. This form of writing allowed the reader to become involved in the drama unwinding on the island and outside it. It was engaging and interesting to see from the point of view of many residents instead of just one main character. It also made it so that as the characters in the story lost accessibility to the letters, so did the author. It was a very clever approach and made it very fascinating to read the letters as the author had to come up with new ways to communicate. This format however, was also hard to follow at times. If the reader was not paying close attention to whom the letter was addressed and from whom it was written, it was easy to get lost in the several sub plots occurring between individual characters. At times the subject matter strayed and the pacing was slow. Most of the action seemed to take place in only the last forty or so pages of the novel.
Overall, this was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed both the characters and setting. The way it was written was engaging, and really made you pay attention to what the characters were saying to each other. Towards the end it even made you interpret new variations of words that the townspeople had to use to communicate. The idea and plot were clever and well thought out, setting up a fantastic tale about the struggle for freedom. I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for a short novel that is more than just a story. Ella Minnow Pea is a literary marvel and provides a new and interesting way of looking at the way we use language and letters.
This novel can be found at many book stores and even on Amazon for under $15.
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