diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 
+0.13
+----
+
+Bug fixes:
+ * The zipper constructors now ignores non-printable characters (see
+   also #13)
+ * `insertMany` now no longer drops the input following a non-printable
+   character (#13)
+
 0.12
 ----
 
diff --git a/src/Data/Text/Zipper.hs b/src/Data/Text/Zipper.hs
--- a/src/Data/Text/Zipper.hs
+++ b/src/Data/Text/Zipper.hs
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
 import Control.DeepSeq
 import Data.Char (isPrint)
+import Data.List (foldl')
 import Data.Monoid
 import qualified Data.Text as T
 import qualified Data.Vector as V
@@ -146,7 +147,10 @@
         (first, rest) = if null limitedLs
                         then (mempty, mempty)
                         else (head limitedLs, tail limitedLs)
-    in TZ mempty first [] rest fromCh drp tk lngth lst int nl linesFunc toListF lmt
+        numLines = length ls
+        insertLine z (i, l) = (if i < numLines - 1 then breakLine else id) $ insertMany l z
+        loadInitial z = foldl' insertLine z $ zip [0..] (first:rest)
+    in loadInitial $ TZ mempty mempty mempty mempty fromCh drp tk lngth lst int nl linesFunc toListF lmt
 
 -- | Get the text contents of the zipper.
 getText :: (Monoid a) => TextZipper a -> [a]
@@ -224,28 +228,19 @@
 -- Otherwise insert the character and move the cursor one position to
 -- the right.
 insertChar :: (Monoid a) => Char -> TextZipper a -> TextZipper a
-insertChar ch tz = maybe tz id $ insertChar_ ch tz
-
-insertChar_ :: (Monoid a) => Char -> TextZipper a -> Maybe (TextZipper a)
-insertChar_ ch tz
-    | ch == '\n' = breakLine_ tz
-    | isPrint ch = Just $ tz { toLeft = toLeft tz `mappend` (fromChar tz ch) }
-    | otherwise  = Nothing
+insertChar ch tz
+    | ch == '\n' = breakLine tz
+    | isPrint ch = tz { toLeft = toLeft tz `mappend` (fromChar tz ch) }
+    | otherwise  = tz
 
 -- | Insert many characters at the current cursor position. Move the
 -- cursor to the end of the inserted text.
 insertMany :: (Monoid a) => a -> TextZipper a -> TextZipper a
-insertMany str tz =
-    let go [] z = z
-        go (c:cs) z = maybe z (go cs) $ insertChar_ c z
-    in go (toList_ tz str) tz
+insertMany str tz = foldl' (flip insertChar) tz $ toList_ tz str
 
 -- | Insert a line break at the current cursor position.
 breakLine :: (Monoid a) => TextZipper a -> TextZipper a
-breakLine tz = maybe tz id $ breakLine_ tz
-
-breakLine_ :: (Monoid a) => TextZipper a -> Maybe (TextZipper a)
-breakLine_ tz =
+breakLine tz =
     -- Plus two because we count the current line and the line we are
     -- about to create; if that number of lines exceeds the limit,
     -- ignore this operation.
@@ -254,9 +249,9 @@
                       }
     in case lineLimit tz of
           Just lim -> if length (above tz) + length (below tz) + 2 > lim
-                      then Nothing
-                      else Just modified
-          Nothing -> Just modified
+                      then tz
+                      else modified
+          Nothing -> modified
 
 -- | Move the cursor to the end of the current line.
 gotoEOL :: (Monoid a) => TextZipper a -> TextZipper a
diff --git a/tests/WordsSpec.hs b/tests/WordsSpec.hs
--- a/tests/WordsSpec.hs
+++ b/tests/WordsSpec.hs
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 {-# OPTIONS_GHC -fno-warn-orphans #-}
 module WordsSpec (spec) where
 
--- This test suite is Copyright (c) Hans-Peter Deifel
-
 import Test.Hspec
 import Test.QuickCheck
 
@@ -17,10 +15,30 @@
 
 spec :: Spec
 spec = do
+    constructorSpec
+    insertCharSpec
+    insertManySpec
     moveWordLeftSpec
     moveWordRightSpec
     deletePrevWordSpec
     deleteWordSpec
+
+constructorSpec :: Spec
+constructorSpec = describe "constructor" $ do
+    it "inserts only printable characters at construction time" $
+      (stringZipper ["abc\x1b def"] Nothing) `shouldBe` (stringZipper ["abc def"] Nothing)
+
+insertCharSpec :: Spec
+insertCharSpec = describe "insertChar" $ do
+    it "ignores an insert of a non-printable character" $
+      let z = stringZipper [] Nothing
+      in (insertChar '\x1b' z) `shouldBe` z
+
+insertManySpec :: Spec
+insertManySpec = describe "insertMany" $ do
+    it "ignores an insert of a non-printable character" $
+      let z = stringZipper ["abc"] Nothing
+      in (insertMany "ghi\x1bjkl" z) `shouldBe` (insertMany "ghijkl" z)
 
 moveWordLeftSpec :: Spec
 moveWordLeftSpec = describe "moveWordLeft" $ do
diff --git a/text-zipper.cabal b/text-zipper.cabal
--- a/text-zipper.cabal
+++ b/text-zipper.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                text-zipper
-version:             0.12
+version:             0.13
 synopsis:            A text editor zipper library
 description:         This library provides a zipper and API for editing text.
 license:             BSD3