All the Little Bird-Hearts

British writer Lloyd-Barlow debuts with a gorgeous story of an autistic mother knocked off course by a whirlwind new friendship and her daughter’s coming-of-age. In 1988, divorcee Sunday leads a steady and regimented life in the English countryside with her 16-year-old daughter Dolly. Sunday’s routines include only eating foods that are colored white, working at her former in-laws’ greenhouse, and a fixation on Sicilian traditions. Her attempts to better understand social behavior are upended when wealthy, unpredictable Vita moves in next door. Soon, Vita sweeps Sunday and Dolly into weekly dinners with her husband, Rollo, and Sunday comes to believe that Vita is the first person to fully accept her since her older sister, Dolores, died when Sunday was a teen. What she doesn’t realize is that Vita and Dolly have been covering up their plans for Dolly to join Rollo’s home renovation business. The revelation leads Sunday to second-guess Vita’s charms and intentions, though she feels powerless to intervene. Lloyd-Barlow’s portrayal of Sunday’s contentment and confusions makes for deeply humanizing autistic representation, and her prose is arrestingly sharp. This auspicious debuts brims with quiet tragedies and lush emotional landscapes. Agent: Jennifer Hewson, Lutyens & Rubinstein. (Dec.)