Seven top novels that celebrate autistic voices

Casper Orr is a trans disabled writer and artist specializing in memoir, cultural and societal critique, and lyric essays. He’s a Senior Editor and Nonfiction Section Editor for Fruitslice and Managing Editor and contributor of Noise Made By living on the east coast. He has work published or forthcoming in Archer Magazine, t’ART Press, Querencia Press, and more.

At Electric Lit Orr tagged "seven novels [that] celebrate authentic autistic storytellers and their divergence from allistic archetypes." One title on the list:

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

I’ve recently come across the work of Caitlin Starling and I immediately fell in love with her prose style. Her writing is precise, but still incredibly eloquent and flowing despite the more gruesome themes of the novel. This dichotomy works perfectly for The Death of Jane Lawrence; although it’s a historical horror, it’s also a romance. Following the story of Jane Lawrence, this riveting novel takes place in a fictional post-war Britain. Jane, orphaned by the recent war, looks for marriage for no other reason other than housing, which leads her to Doctor Augustine Lawrence. He agrees to marry her if she agrees to follow his rule; she cannot visit Lindridge Hall after dark. She agrees and follows this rule until unforeseen circumstances show her the real terror that lies within.

Starling’s novel fits perfectly into the modern Gothic category, hitting most, if not all, the key markers of the genre. It has everything from a Gothic novel you could ever want: hauntings, a deteriorating manor that the protagonist is forbidden from entering, a marriage of convenience, and a possible murder. But readers be warned; modern Gothic, specifically Starling’s portfolio, is quite gory. This is not your grandparents’ Gothic novel.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: The Death of Jane Lawrence.

--Marshal Zeringue