The Blind Contessa's New Machine: A Novel - Hardcover

Wallace, Carey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067002189X ISBN 13: 9780670021895

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books, 2010

Synopsis

An iridescent jewel of a novel that proves love is the mother of invention

In the early 1800s, a young Italian contessa, Carolina Fantoni, realizes she is going blind shortly before she marries the town's most sought-after bachelor. Her parents don't believe her, nor does her fiancé. The only one who understands is the eccentric local inventor and her longtime companion, Turri. When her eyesight dims forever, Carolina can no longer see her beloved lake or the rich hues of her own dresses. But as darkness erases her world, she discovers one place she can still see-in her dreams. Carolina creates a vivid dreaming life, in which she can not only see, but also fly, exploring lands she had never known.

Desperate to communicate with Carolina, Turri invents a peculiar machine for her: the world's first typewriter. His gift ignites a passionate love affair that will change both of their lives forever.

Based on the true story of a nineteenth-century inventor and his innovative contraption, The Blind Contessa's New Machine is an enchanting confection of love and the triumph of the imagination.

About this title

About the Author

Carey Wallace grew up in a small town in Michigan. She has worked as a waitress, art studio manager, private biographer, and lady's maid to an automotive heiress. The founder of The Hillbilly Underground-a retreat that draws international artists to rural Michigan-she lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is her first novel.

Reviews

This charming and refreshingly modest debut hinges on a romantic triangle consisting of a blind contessa, her aristocratic husband, and an eccentric inventor. As Carolina Fantoni and Pietro prepare for their wedding in early 19th-century Italy, she tells her handsome, well-born fiancé that she is going blind. Like her family, he doesn't take her seriously, and only Turri, Carolina's friend and married neighbor, believes her. While Pietro engages in less than lofty pursuits, Turri and Carolina continue to meet on Carolina's father's property, and Carolina's creeping blindness inspires Turri to invent a machine she can use to write messages. His invention—a typewriter—sparks an affair that could have far-reaching consequences for them both. Wallace has a smooth style and a sure hand in combining near tragedy with whimsy, whether she's detailing Carolina and Pietro's social circle, the state of scientific knowledge, or the progression of Carolina's blindness. Secondary characters, including Carolina's not-so loyal servant girl, Liza, are sketched with hints of a darker, deeper psychology. Despite its relative brevity, this is a work of surprising insight, humor, and heart. (July)
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Wallace's debut may be slender, but it is in no way slight. This shimmering historical, grounded faintly in fact, is elevated by deft touches of romantic mysticism. When Carolina, an indulged but independent early nineteenth century Italian contessa, realizes she is going blind, the only one who believes her is Turri, a local handyman and her childhood friend and confidante. After her marriage to a provincial aristocrat, her vision deteriorates rapidly. Desperate to hold onto the beauty of the physical world, she realizes that she can still see in her dreams and creates a vivid alternate reality. Meanwhile, Turri invents a machine that enables her to continue to communicate with him. As the “writing machine” binds them closer together, a bittersweet affair threatens to tear them apart forever. Writing with the assurance and the clarity of a seasoned author, Wallace crafts a seemingly simple, but ultimately iridescent, love story. --Margaret Flanagan

Edition details

• Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 067002189X
• ISBN 13: 9780670021895
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 207