Mapping Charlie

by Jane Meyerding

Mapping Charlie

Genres: Fiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could remember how/where I heard about this book. I read about it somewhere and the premise sounded interesting, so I added it to my wish list and eventually ordered it (in part to get free shipping from an online bookseller).

I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed reading it. The main character - Kay - is (high-functioning) autistic and face-blind (i.e. doesn't remember or recognize the faces of people she meets or interacts with and in fact, until the events of this story, has managed to live her life in such a subdued, low-key way that she doesn't realize that other people do recognize each other).

I really enjoyed getting to know Kay, seeing the world through her eyes and trying to understanding people in all their weird, illogical, social ways. (Also, I have an affinity for her because, while I'm not face-blind, I am somewhere on the near end of the Autism spectrum - not quite Dr. Sheldon Cooper, but closer than most, so a lot of her feelings about people were familiar to me.)

The story itself, a murder mystery in which Kay is treated as the main suspect by the police, is a vehicle for Kay's self-discovery. Up to this point, she's managed to make a very insular, routinized life for herself, in which she didn't need to understand more than her job, her bus routes and her classwork.

But now, in order to try to clear herself of suspicion, she has to interact with new people (that she can't recognize!), change her routines, and figure out how non-autistics (for which she has a term that I can't recall at the moment) tick.

All of which makes for a fascinating journey, quite apart from solving the mystery itself. (The mystery story is reasonably interesting, but really takes a back seat to the exploration of Kay and her world.)

This is a good book, but not a perfect book. I didn't give it 5 stars because, as a first-time author, Meyerding has some growing to do.

For instance, the point of view of the story shifts between Kay and the other characters (mostly, but not exclusively, one other major character), but not in any systematic way (e.g. chapter by chapter), but rather just as she felt like it. She did a good job of making sure the reader always knows just whose POV it was, but it still shifted around more than I like.

Also, like any author, Ms. Meyerding needs an editor. There were a few typos and misused words scattered here and there. I have to give her credit, though: there were only a few, which, if she is her own editor, is pretty darned good (but she still needs another, competent set of eyes checking her work). However, if she has an editor besides herself (the book had no acknowledgement section, so it's impossible to know), she needs a much better one.

(This is a problem I've encountered with several self-published books and is one reason why the publishing industry is still important. Editing matters!)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particularly interesting novel has a protagonist, Kay, who is an autistic woman who lives alone with her cat, goes to work everyday and takes classes. When a classmate is murdered, Kay discovers that she has a condition called face-blindness that keeps her from recognizing people by their looks. She begins to investigate what exactly that means to her.

Sort of slow starting, but ultimately quite fascinating.

[Chuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book along the lines of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time or Moon's The Speed of Dark, except here the main character is a middle-aged woman. Characters are drawn well, but the writing is a bit uneven, some things seem a bit motiveless, and the story shifts to close third person viewpoints of different characters seemingly at random, sometimes from one page (or paragraph) to the next. Still, I am glad I read it.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent novel. Should be picked up by a major publisher. Good mystery plot with the twist that the main character is a woman with autism who is accused of killing someone. Really interesting insight into what goes on inside the autistic mind.