Livesey’s most recent book, The boy in the field, was one of my favorite recent books. I also enjoyed her Eva moves the furniture, published in 2001, and then went on to read this 2004 novel that followed it. As with the other books, Livesey’s strength is in her wonderful use of language and her ability to inhabit and understand the characters she writes about, most of whom are half a bubble off. Zeke is a twenty-nine-year-old builder who is definitely “on the spectrum” as one says these days. While working in the empty house of an out-of-town client, Verona, 37 and visibly quite pregnant, shows up on the doorstep, suitcase in hand, and claims to be the clients’ niece who has been given leave to stay in their house. These two mismatched people end up spending the night together there, to Zeke’s amazement, but the next day, Verona has vanished as suddenly as she appeared. Zeke copes with life with fixed routines, avoidance of social situations, knowing his limitations in reading nuance in speech, and keeping to himself, but this encounter with Verona will force him to conquer his many fears to help her. As it turns out, she is actually running away from men looking for her brother, Henry, who owes them a lot of money. Lovely book. 321 pp.
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