Title sorting not working

I recently listed all my Dean Koontz books, and after changing the sorting to 'strictly_alphabetic' I find that the list still sorts as though 'The' wasn't there in the title. So, The Orchard would be listed under the letter 'O' instead of the letter 'T'.
I've spent a little time trying to sort this out but now I need help.
I want the alphabetical sort to work from the first letter of the first word of the title. Can anyone help?