A Mad, Mad Whirl

The Washington Post reports:

Zeke, an angelically beautiful, mentally impaired 29-year-old man, works in London as a house painter. His symptoms vary: Publicity material for Margot Livesey’s new novel, “Banishing Verona,” describes him as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, but sometimes he seems mildly autistic. (Also, he’s had a nervous breakdown.) Zeke can’t recognize familiar faces, he can’t comprehend metaphor, he becomes afraid for no reason, and he can never, never, tell a lie. Naturally, he has great trouble understanding the ways of a deceptive, complex world.