First publication from Michigan author in her 30s, about young woman who slowly becomes blind and no one believes her except the inventor next door - who ultimately falls in love with her and creates the typewriter. The author was kind enough to correspond with me over email once, so that really made my day.

I think this is a beautiful story, and feels timeless in its telling.

I hope that the author is considering writing more books. ( )

This short novel, just over two hundred pages, chronicles the life of a young Italian woman who is slowly suffering the loss of sight. The story opens with Carolina Fantoni confessing to her mother, father, and fiance that she is going blind. Oddly enough, none of them believe her, choosing to think that she is using a figure of speech to describe her feelings about her upcoming wedding, or casting it off as a joke. Only her friend, neighbor, and local scandalous inventor Turri believes her. The story then flashes backwards to Turri and Carolina’s first meeting at a ball, when he was sixteen and hiding from girls, and she was six and tired of dancing. As Carolina grows up, her parents are wary of her friendship with Turri, who because of his general undesirability as a husband is married off to the already-scandal laden daughter of a wealthy family. Carolina herself manages to attract and marry one of the most popular and beloved young men of the town, Pietro. Not longer after her marriage, the disease begins to progress rapidly, and Carolina becomes completely blind.

The writing in this book is very pretty, with a quaint, old-fashioned tint. The reader has Carolina’s perspective, so things are described according to smell and feel, tactile descriptions instead of visual ones. I found the book to be a pleasant, quick read, but did not find the characters to be particularly engaging. I felt strangely indifferent to Carolina as a protagonist, nor did I feel that the relationships she had with other characters to be very authentic. So although the writing style and description are very well done, the characters and plot are not necessarily emotionally engaging. ( )

Liked the sensory descriptions, third-person-limited narrator, and setting/period. Didn't like the beyond-mediocre ending, awkward novella length, and unconvincing romance (I liked the hot, popular guy!). Take this idea, make it a Devil-in-the-White-City-style non-fiction work, and I'd be all over it. ( )

Lovely written book. Was sad about how it ended. I'm glad I stumbled upon this book at hpb. ( )

The Blind Contessa’s New Machine – Carey Wallace
4 stars

How does a blind princess protect her secret heart? This is a fairy tale of a lovely young contessa, her tragic loss of sight, and her experience of love and passion. Based very loosely the invention of a very early typewriter, this story is a little gem. Short enough to read in one sitting, I returned from this book feeling as if I’d spent an afternoon basking in the sun of an Italian villa. Given that the book deals mainly with the Contessa’s loss of vision there is a surprising sense of a great scenic film in the descriptions.
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