An excerpt from ‘Lisabetta- a stolen glance’ (book one of the Lisabetta trilogy)

[ Jupiter Lyons dreams in surprises. His attention surfaces from time to time. The world grates against his skin, filtered through bright static. Sound-scapes arrive out of focus, brittle and loud and startle him. He’s a tender six-year-old boy, lost in a haze of autism – a consummate escape artist who plays hide-and-seek with the world.

When Jupiter’s mother initiates connection, he sometimes looks through her until they physically drift apart. When questioned, he explained that “looking and seeing are different.”

Jupiter is amused by even numbers and a desire for squares. Squares are comfortable. Jupiter counts them all day long. He’s on a constant quest for triangles. “Triangles can’t tip over,” he tells his mother. Somewhere behind the ‘no trespassers’ sign in his eyes lie brightly illuminated conversations, scraps of songs and childish passions, and tidy piles of unmet needs tied up with clean ribbons. Jupiter’s vocal cords are a tangled ball of silent opinions where stillborn questions wait behind a corridor of blue doors.]

IN HIS MOTHER’S WORDS:

  [  I named my boy Jupiter in my first trimester because I was as round as a planet, estranged from the small and ordinary, and curiously drawn to all things elemental.

While pregnant, I was unconscious of the revelations that the sky god Jupiter represented the immensity of omnipotent intellect, unearthly merriment, and larger-than-life storms. But during the nine months of gestation, I felt an overwhelming sense of mental expansion along with my belly. I was connected to the stars. I believed in destiny.

It was natural to address my unborn child, acknowledging his greatness – my ancient child with faraway eyes who sees hidden truths in plain sight.

We’re best friends. More like brother and sister, born a generation apart. Sometimes I think Jupiter is the mother, especially the times he grips my hand when episodes of despair hound me. He is my champion. Some children break all the rules. ]

Book 2 in V Knox’s ‘Lisabetta Trilogy’ is scheduled to publish in September 2021