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There are currently 23 member reviews
for The Blind Contessa's New Machine
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Bess W. (Marlton, US)
Fly away with me
This tender love story by Carey Wallace will transport you along with Carolina into a world of dreams. I was so captivated by the story that I read it in one sitting. This book would be an excellent choice for book clubs. There are many topics which would be open for discussion--especially that of dreams and fantasies and where they can take us.
FYI--not only did Turri invent the writing machine but he also invented carbon paper which is what Carolina used in her letter writing.
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Julie Rand. (Jefferson, ME)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine
This passionate love story of Contessa Carolina Fantoni, Turri, her lover, and Pietro, her husband, explores the conflict between individual expression and societal traditional mores. The strength of this novel lies in its charming description of the natural world through Carolina's disclosures of visual detail, dream fantasy and memory recall. In addition, Carolina provides the vehicle for a believable account of the onslaught of blindness and eventually the means of coping with complete loss of sight. Although lyrical and well constructed, the theme of blindness necessitates long passages which tend to retard the flow of the story line and stagnate the mystery and suspense that the author endeavors to create. A pleasant summer's read, the book cleverly succeeds in rendering some redemptive quality to the plight of the blind Contessa.
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Rita L. (Green Bay, WI)
Light Reading
I would consider this book a light summer read. While the story was interesting enough, with the invention of a “writing machine”, I thought the characters were underdeveloped and I had no strong feelings about any of them. I enjoy historical novels when there is detail about the customs and culture of the time, but I felt this was missing here.
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Celia A. (Takoma Park, MD)
I wanted it to be better
This book was a fast read, but it didn’t grab me. Carolina Fantoni, the contessa of the title, was the only character who seemed particularly fleshed out. The characters are based on historical figures, so perhaps Wallace had less to work with for the characters of Pietro (the husband) and Turri (the friend and inventor of an early typewriter). I did enjoy Wallace’s description of Carolina’s experience as she was going blind. This wasn’t a bad book, but I wanted it to be better.
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Joan V. (ny)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine
This book was an interesting read, but the ending was rushed and left a lot of questions unanswered. Some of the characters, Pietro, the husband were a bit too conventional. To me the most interesting and original character was Turri. He was the most three dimensional person in the book.
On the positive side, the descriptions of the Contessa going blind and her eventual blindness were very vivid. You could feel Carolina’s fear mounting as her blindness progressed. The scenes where she learned to travel around the house at night and find her way to the lake were interesting, but became a bit repetitious after awhile.
I definitely would like to read more by this writer.
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Kim L. (cary, IL)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine
I found this book to be slow to start. I was disappointed in the ending, it left me wanting more. This was because there was no real depth to any of the characters and I felt let down when I finished the book. It was an intriguing storyline which led me to read the book but it didn't satisfy.
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Catherine H. (Nashua, NH)
I really wanted to like this book but....
As I read the last line, it left me with a feeling of frustration. The story was interesting enough: a blind Comtessa in the 1800s Italy, the husband, the friend and lover, who invents a "new machine" for her especially: both characters and story are not developed enough; I ended up the book wanting more. Nice book for a summer afternoon.
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