Experienced by about four percent of the population, synaesthesia often runs in families. As the condition involves a heightened perception of the world, it is perhaps unsurprising that synaesthetes are eight times more likely to work in creative professions than the average person. The author of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, inherited grapheme-colour synaesthesia from his mother and described his experiences of it in his memoir, Speak, Memory. Famous synaesthete artists include Vincent van Gogh and David Hockney. Meanwhile, the list of successful musical synaesthetes goes on and on, from Franz Liszt and Leonard Bernstein to Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Tori Amos and Pharrell Williams. Most of the above have described their synaesthesia as an asset to the creative process (although sadly, in Van Gogh’s case, it was viewed by his contemporaries as just another symptom of his madness).
Face Blindness
Another factor in Jasper’s perception of the world is face blindness. Otherwise known as prosopagnosia or facial agnosia, face blindness is also a neurological condition. Unlike synaesthesia, however, it is considered to be a disorder caused by an abnormality in a particular part of the brain. The condition varies in severity but all sufferers have difficulty in recognising faces: some have trouble recognising friends and acquaintances while others are unable to identify their own face in a mirror. Many people who suffer from face blindness are diagnosed late in life, or not at all. This tends to be because sufferers feel embarrassed about their inability to identify their nearest and dearest and develop techniques to mask their condition. Masking often involves the pretence of recognition until other clues (mannerisms, voice, distinctive clothing etc.) help to establish a person’s identity. Many sufferers develop forms of social anxiety, as social encounters are a continual source of potential embarrassment. Face blindness is not connected to learning disabilities, memory problems or visual impairment. The condition does, however, often go hand-in-hand with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Autism
Autism is a neurological condition where the brain is wired differently – not defectively, just differently – from a neurotypical (or non-autistic) brain. The autistic spectrum covers a wide range of interrelated characteristics and behaviours. While some autistic people may be minimally verbal or have learning difficulties, others (within the Asperger’s Syndrome range) may have very high IQs. The common denominator of most forms of autism is that the condition generally impacts upon the way an individual experiences and relates to the world, often making social interactions difficult.
Although Jasper never specifically identifies himself as autistic, his father is revealed to be reading a self-help book on understanding children with autism. Even before this revelation, however, many readers will have spotted that Jasper displays a number of traits often associated with autism. These include certain physical tics (flapping, rocking); a dislike of eye contact and physical intimacy; difficulties in comprehending other people; problems with both expressing feelings and interpreting the emotions of others; a craving for order and routine, and a special (bordering upon obsessive) interest in a particular subject.
Tuesday, 12 April
Thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart is no ordinary boy. Jasper experiences synaesthesia. This means that he sees colours on hearing sounds. He is also autistic and suffers from face blindness. Jasper is unable to recognise the face of his own father or even his own reflection. He uses other clues (distinctive clothing, the colour of voices etc.) to try to identify people.
Jasper is being interviewed by DC Richard Chamberlain at his local police station. The detective constable asks Jasper questions about his neighbour, Bee Larkham. Chamberlain explains that the father of one of Bee’s music students has made an allegation against her. He asks if Jasper has ever seen a boy called Lucas Drury visiting Bee’s house. Jasper believes that he has killed Bee Larkham and wants to confess. Jasper’s father, however, has instructed him not to tell the police what he did to Bee. It also appears from the line of questioning that the police are not yet aware that Bee is dead.
Jasper is in the habit of standing at his bedroom window with binoculars to watch parakeets feeding in Bee Larkham’s garden. He also records everything he sees in notebooks. Despite this, his father, Ed, explains to the police that Jasper is not a reliable witness as he cannot identify faces. Jasper shows Richard Chamberlain one of his notebook entries which records his neighbour, David Gilbert, threatening to kill the parakeets roosting in Bee Larkham’s garden. Further entries show that he is preoccupied with this incident and has called 999 to report the threat. Jasper tells Chamberlain that twelve parakeets have been killed. The interview comes to a close when he vomits on the sofa.
Back at their home in Vincent Gardens, Jasper worries about the welfare of the parakeets as Bee’s bird feeders are empty. Reluctantly, he promises his father that he will not feed them. Jasper assumes that his father has hidden the evidence from Bee’s murder: Jasper’s bloody clothes and the kitchen knife. He also surmises that Ed has disposed of Bee’s body. When he asks where he hid her, however, his father insists that there is no dead body. He urges Jasper to forget about what happened.
Jasper is a prolific and talented artist and paints the colours of sounds. He decides to try to paint the series of events that led up to Bee’s murder in order to get things straight in his head.
17 January
Jasper’s narrative goes back to the first time he saw a parakeet visiting Vincent Gardens. The sighting coincides with a new neighbour moving into Number 20 (directly across the road from Jasper’s house). That evening, Jasper watches his neighbour through binoculars as she dances to loud music with her windows wide open. Electrified by the music and his new neighbour’s wild dancing, Jasper feels sure that they will be good friends.
Ed joins his son in observing the new neighbour. He hypothesises that, as Number 20 previously belonged to elderly Pauline Larkham (who recently died), the newcomer might be her estranged daughter. As they watch, Ollie Watkins, from Number 18, knocks on the new neighbour’s door and clearly receives a hostile reception. Jasper’s father guesses that Ollie, who lives with his dying mother in the terraced house next door, was complaining about the loud music. After Ollie’s visit the music becomes even louder. The new neighbour then receives a second visit from the resident of 22 Vincent Gardens: David Gilbert.
Wednesday, 13 April
Jasper has a painful stomach wound which his father has dressed with a bandage. Only able to recall certain parts of the night of Bee’s death, he guesses he must have hurt himself accidentally when he stabbed Bee. Ed warns his son not to show the wound to anyone. On his way to school, Jasper throws a broken china ornament of a lady in a rubbish bin.
At school, Jasper is confronted by an older boy who turns out to be Lucas Drury. Lucas says that his father has reported Bee to the police, claiming that she is a paedophile. He demands to know what Jasper told the police about his relationship with Bee. Jasper assures Lucas that he didn’t tell the police anything. Lucas remains in a state of panic, however, and reveals that Bee claimed to be pregnant.
Jasper is physically sick after learning about Bee’s baby, now believing that he has killed two people. He visits the school nurse who refuses to let him go home as his father is at work. Nevertheless, Jasper sneaks out of school and goes back to Vincent Gardens. Here he sees police outside Bee’s house. Despite his father’s warnings, Jasper is overwhelmed by the urge to confess to the police. Before he can do so, however, he is stopped by a man with a ‘custard yellow’ voice who introduces himself as Ollie Watkins. Ollie tells Jasper that, as his mother, Lily Watkins, has now died, he is sorting through her possessions, preparing to sell the house. Jasper tells Ollie that he is worried about the welfare of the parakeets but his father has forbidden him to feed them. Ollie says he is also