Asperger Syndrome: Fiction Books
Explore the best fiction books featuring Asperger Syndrome. Discover compelling stories and characters that bring Asperger's experiences to life in these top-rated novels.
Book
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic—both poignant and funny—about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. “Disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.... Suspenseful and harrowing.” —The New York Times Book Review Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
Book
The Speed of Dark
by Elizabeth Moon
"In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences. They will be made active and contributing members of society. But they will never be normal. Lou Arrendale is a member of that lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the awards of medical science. Part of a small group of high-functioning autistic adults, he has a steady job with a pharmaceutical company, a car, friends, and a passion for fencing. Aside from his annual visits to his counselor, he lives a low-key, independent life. He has learned to shake hands and make eye contact. He has taught himself to use "please" and "thank you" and other conventions of conversation because he knows it makes others comfortable. He does his best to be as normal as possible and not to draw attention to himself. But then his quiet life comes under attack. It starts with an experimental treatment that will reverse the effects of autism in adults. With this treatment Lou would think and act and "be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself? Would he still love the same classical music-with its complications and resolutions? Would he still see the same colors and patterns in the world-shades and hues that others cannot see? Most importantly, would he still love Marjory, a woman who may never be able to reciprocate his feelings? Would it be easier for her to return the love of a"normal"? There are intense pressures coming from the world around him-including an angry supervisor who wants to cut costs by sacrificing the supports necessary to employ autistic workers. Perhaps even more disturbing are the barrage of questions within himself. For Lou must decide if he should submit to a surgery that might completely change the way he views the world . . . and the very essence of who he is. Thoughtful, provocative, poignant, unforgettable, "The Speed of Dark is a gripping exploration into the mind of an autistic person as he struggles with profound questions of humanity and matters of the heart.
Book
A Road Through the Mountains
by Elizabeth McGregor
From Elizabeth McGregor comes an unforgettably moving, richly layered novel with a timeless love story at its core. Beautiful, suspenseful, hauntingly erotic, A Road Through the Mountains tells of one woman’s extraordinary journey to a new life with the help of the man she thought she’d lost long ago—a journey that will take hold of your heart. Anna Russell is a talented painter and single mother. Her daughter, Rachel, is a ten-year-old whose undoubtedly gifted mind is trapped by a form of autism known as Asperger Syndrome. When a car accident leaves Anna in a coma, both their lives—and the lives of all those around them—are changed forever. Across the Atlantic, David Mortimer receives an unexpected phone call from Anna’s mother. The scientist is stunned to learn that he’s a father. His long-ago affair with Anna was short and intense; when she suddenly returned home to the States, David slipped into a reclusive life of research, haunted by memories of the girl who’d left him without explanation. Now he knows he must break his self-imposed isolation, go to Boston and the woman he’s always loved, meet the child he never knew he had—and perhaps coax them both out of their silence. But as David attempts to put together the puzzle of Anna’s life as an artist, mother, and daughter, he finds himself involved in a relationship with Anna far more intimate than he expected. Why did she leave him so many years before? Where, as she lies in a coma, is she now? And how is it that he loves this woman even after all these years? When he stumbles across Anna’s mysterious fascination with the rare flowers that were once their shared passion, he and Rachel, their beautiful, sensitive child, may just have discovered how to help Anna find a way back—a road through the mountains. Lyric, tender, as fragile and enduring as love itself, A Road Through the Mountains draws upon its author’s personal experiences and establishes Elizabeth McGregor as a major storyteller. From the Hardcover edition.