The Blind Contessa's New Machine

March 29, 2010
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.

April 15, 2010
Newly married 19th-century Italian noblewoman tragically loses her sight and embarks on a risky affair.

Indulged by her father, yet neglected by her distant mother, little Carolina Fantoni, an only child, grows into a solitary, independent young lady. Blessed with beauty and intelligence, she nonetheless chooses to spend her days and nights alone in and around a small cottage that her father builds for her on the edge of a man-made lake on his extensive property. Her unusual habits attract an eccentric young neighbor, Turri, who becomes a close friend and confidant. An absent-minded tinkerer stuck in a marriage of convenience to a local coquette, he watches helplessly as Carolina comes of age and catches the eye of charismatic Pietro, a popular ladies' man with considerable property of his own. Smitten with Carolina's vulnerability, Pietro courts her avidly, and she accepts his proposal. Shortly before her wedding, she realizes—with horror—that she is going blind, and a few months after her honeymoon she cannot see anything at all. As she tries to adjust to her new life in Pietro's home, she discovers that she can still see in her dreams. Turri, meanwhile, crafts a proto-typewriter for her, which allows her to write letters. This amazing invention facilitates a romantic relationship between them, with Carolina slipping out of her bed in the middle of the night to meet her lover at the abandoned lake cabin. Torn between her connection to Turri and her loyalty to her husband, the contessa knows the dangers of her situation, even as she takes greater risks. With idyllic descriptions of the upper-crust life in rural Italy, Wallace's enchanting debut may at times be stuck on its own preciousness, but Carolina's struggle feels timeless.

A dreamy, sensual fairy tale.

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June 1, 2010
Wallaces 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)