All The Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow

This book was longlisted for the Booker prize, and it is very much like books that get that nod--quirky, well written, and with a narrative that sucks you in with a story that is not often told, and that holds true for this book. The story begins on a bright, cool summer’s morning in the 1980s. A woman called Sunday whispers a Sicilian proverb, admires the fields that rise above her Lake District home and notices a stranger lying on next door’s lawn. This is Vita, and so begins the account of the intense friendship that builds between these two very different women, and its fraught aftermath. Confident, charming, privileged Vita has moved to Sunday’s small town from London. Sunday is autistic. Social interactions perplex her, and she is happier calming her twitching hands in the soil of the greenhouses where she works. She favors white food, cannot read clocks, and turns down any drink that is not cold and fizzy. Vita is delighted with her quirky new friend, and Sunday bathes in the warm light of her attention. She and her daughter Dolly start visiting Vita and her husband Rollo for weekly suppers. What unfolds over the years is told by Sunday, who doesn't quite follow the subtext--it is like The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night, where the reader knows what is going on long before Sunday does, and even she figures it out in the end. It is a well told story that is an enjoyable read.