All the Little Bird-Hearts

In this deeply affecting debut, Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow centres an autistic mother whose ordered life is disrupted when glamorous new neighbours arrive. The novel delicately explores vulnerability, exploitation, and the desire to be understood. Lloyd-Barlow’s prose is intimate and precise, offering a rare portrayal of autistic interiority without sentimentality. As tensions mount, the narrative reveals the sharp edges of social judgement and the cost of trust. It is a tender, unsettling, beautifully crafted novel.