Helpful Score: 3
Quintessential Prose Floats Over the World of the Sightless
Carolina, a newly engaged woman surrounded by the beauty of a 19th century Italian villa, revels in her daydreams until she realizes she is going blind. Her family worries if their villas shady garden can sustain a grove of lemon trees while Carolina observes rather than fears her encroaching blindness.
Ironically, Carey Wallaces evocative prose is awash with images that invite the eye to retrace many a sentence. The author then masterfully invites us into the world of the sightless with descriptions of the other senses spilling over each page. The woods chatter. The insects strong body beat against her eyelids. Sugar. She lifted her finger from her tongue. Under Wallaces pen, Carolina experiences the world so clearly, we are stunned to discover that she needs a writing machine. I need not comment about the love story in the plot as other reviewers have. Frankly, plot was quite secondary in this readers mind to the perception of how well Carolina lived in her dark world. When her other senses do not give her enough, she wills her dreams to take her to places where she can envision what she loves.
This extraordinary debut novel moved me with its insight and eloquence. I disagree with the review that cited blindness as being the central idea in the book. I found the novel remarkably illuminating and an absolute delight to read.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
http://www.hollyweiss.com
Carolina, a newly engaged woman surrounded by the beauty of a 19th century Italian villa, revels in her daydreams until she realizes she is going blind. Her family worries if their villas shady garden can sustain a grove of lemon trees while Carolina observes rather than fears her encroaching blindness.
Ironically, Carey Wallaces evocative prose is awash with images that invite the eye to retrace many a sentence. The author then masterfully invites us into the world of the sightless with descriptions of the other senses spilling over each page. The woods chatter. The insects strong body beat against her eyelids. Sugar. She lifted her finger from her tongue. Under Wallaces pen, Carolina experiences the world so clearly, we are stunned to discover that she needs a writing machine. I need not comment about the love story in the plot as other reviewers have. Frankly, plot was quite secondary in this readers mind to the perception of how well Carolina lived in her dark world. When her other senses do not give her enough, she wills her dreams to take her to places where she can envision what she loves.
This extraordinary debut novel moved me with its insight and eloquence. I disagree with the review that cited blindness as being the central idea in the book. I found the novel remarkably illuminating and an absolute delight to read.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
http://www.hollyweiss.com
Helpful Score: 2
This is a rather short book. According to the book jacket, the book is based on a historical woman. Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. The onset of her blindness supposedly led to the invention of the first working typewriter.
Reading the story was like reading and getting bits and pieces of the complete picture which seems appropriate considering the main character. The imagery with which the main character sees her world as she begins to lose her sight is fascinating - visual and colorful. Even after completely losing her sight, she describes her dreams because that is the one place she can still see. The ending left me wondering and wanting to learn more about her life and the life of the inventor of the "writing machine". Unfortunately, I don't know if much information is available. None of the writing machines have survived although some of the letters she wrote apparently have.
Incidentally, the man Pellegrino Turri is also credited with the invention of the carbon paper. He used the carbon paper merely to provide the ink for his "writing machine."
Reading the story was like reading and getting bits and pieces of the complete picture which seems appropriate considering the main character. The imagery with which the main character sees her world as she begins to lose her sight is fascinating - visual and colorful. Even after completely losing her sight, she describes her dreams because that is the one place she can still see. The ending left me wondering and wanting to learn more about her life and the life of the inventor of the "writing machine". Unfortunately, I don't know if much information is available. None of the writing machines have survived although some of the letters she wrote apparently have.
Incidentally, the man Pellegrino Turri is also credited with the invention of the carbon paper. He used the carbon paper merely to provide the ink for his "writing machine."
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed reading this book however I had expected to read about the actual development of the typewriter and that is not what this book is about. All of a sudden the typewriter is just there. Instead this book is about the love between two people that are not free to love one another due to first the marriage of one and then the marriage of the other. The typewriter is used by the contessa to send messages to her love/inventor. The fact that the contessa went blind and continued to "try" and send Turri notes, of which he must have seen a reason that she needed something to help her in her writing endeavors and so the typewriter was born.
Helpful Score: 1
The only thing wrong with this story is that it was too short! I wanted more! Carolina, a young contessa in 19th century Italy, is going blind. Her parents and fiance don't believe her. Only Turri the local inventor listens to what she says. He makes for her the worlds first typewriter and sparks a love story.
Based on historical fact.
Based on historical fact.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a lovely, sweet romance that was delightfully told. The descriptions were the real strength of the book - they had a way of making each scene vividly imaginable.
