Young 19th century Contessa, Carolina Fantoni, realizes she is losing her eyesight and tells her fiancé, who laughs as though it's a joke. When she tells her mother she's losing her sight, Mama only nods and sighs , "Yes. I have been in love, too.". Finally, she blurts out
…more her fate to her father, who waves a hand in front of her eyes and finally concludes "But you haven't, yet!" Frustrated, she confides in her childhood friend, Turri, who has become a unique scientist and peculiar though clever inventor. He creates a unique gift for Carolina: a writing machine. Each letter of the alphabet has its own key in succession and she can touch them to make words appear from a special paper. This becomes her new mode of communication with friends as well as Turri when she wants him to meet her. The blind Contessa’s new machine soon creates a sensation but Turri's invention threatens to invade the privacy and intimacy of their friendship.
Because the book opens with the threat of blindness, it doesn't come as a surprise, yet as a reader, I felt, "Not yet! Don't become blind just yet!" because I wanted to know the real Contessa first. Well, as Carolina adapts to her cruel ailment with curiosity and action rather than self-pity, she shows her true self much more quickly and deeply. She stands above the other characters in the novel in courage and resourcefulness. Except for Turri. When she tells her friend that she begins to dream of wonderful adventures where not only can she see, but she can fly, he falls deeply in love with her (if he wasn't already!) and together they search for a future together. But can that happen if she is now married to Pietro and Turri has a wife and beloved young son?
This small gem of a book is larger reading than one expects. Yet, it could have been somewhat deeper on the supporting characters, and at times I wasn't sure exactly when Carolina was dreaming until she described something, so I gave the book a “4” rating. However, I believe the author, Carey Wallace, has a splendid way with words and descriptions and making the reader feel for the main characters, so I hope there will be further novels. She's certainly off to a good start! (less)