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The Blind Contessa's New Machine

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 987 ratings · 296 reviews

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,...more

Hardcover, 207 pages

Published July 8th 2010 by Pamela Dorman Books (first published July 1st 2010)

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Community Reviews

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Dec 05, 2011 Cassy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cassy by: Browsing at Brazos

Shelves: physical-own, region-europe, 2011, fiction-historical

I was drawn to this book by both the juxtaposition of the title and its petit size. The dimensions being smaller than a typical paperback and at a scant 207 pages, it was a breeze. And after reading several behemoth fantasy books this summer, it was an especially welcome breeze.

The basic frame of the story is true: the invention of the first working typewriter by Pellegrino Turri for his blind love, the Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. The writing is lovely and the love story bittersweet...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Laura by: Chrissie

Shelves: hf, love-stories, lib-has-audio, library, a-lucky-one

I enjoyed the book overall. The writing was lovely, the main characters well-developed. However, I felt the characters at times acted in ways that stretched believability and I hated the ending. I'm glad I read it, as it was different, and interesting in that it portrays someone going blind, which I think it did well. Not sure I'd be reading more by her, though.

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Oct 12, 2011 Chrissie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: italy, kirkus, text-checked, bio, favorites

NO SPOILERS!!!

Through page 40: This is a love story – not just one love story, but actually several. A GR friend once remarked that I didn't like romance or that I rarely read love stories, and that is true. However I do enjoy love stories, but they must be magical as all real love is! The prose of this book is magical and enchanting, like a fairy tale for adults. See my quote from pages 36 and 37:

"Surprised, C looked at him."
"'You know that I love you,' he said."
"The words rang in her mind lik...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Tara Chevrestt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, italy, women-that-really-existed-fiction, arc, 2010-release

I had no idea that the type writer was invented for a blind woman by a man who loved her till I found this novel.

This is a very simple, short read. Carolina realizes she is going blind just before she marries Pietro. Both her parents and Pietro just shrug off her concerns, but the inevitable happens and Carolina's world finally goes completely dark. Turri, her childhood friend and neighbor fancies himself an inventor. He is also very much in love with Carolina and after she has a disastrous att...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Jeannette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jeannette by: Lee

Shelves: adult-fiction, biographical-sketches, historical-fiction, 2010-read, books-i-own

This is such an interesting little book. The story centers on Carolina as she slowly goes blind. The descriptive prose is so vivid that you are able to experience her loss and horror, her fear of the future. And then, the author brings us into Carolina’s new dream world, a place she must construct to keep herself safe and anchored in the darkness she must live in.

All the while, the reader follows the people who make up Carolina’s waking world: her husband, Pietro, her old friend, Turri, and her...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, italy-fic-lit, historical-fiction

This is a fictional treatment how of Pelligrino Turri may have come to invent a prototype of what eventually became the typewriter. Because his invention was designed to assist the blind, the author imagines a blind Contessa with whom this 1800's man of science fell in love.

Carey Wallace deserves credit for bringing attention to this breakthrough invention. There is some very good prose here. Particularly good writing is how the author describes how the Contessa, Carolina, loses her sight, how s...more

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May 06, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This short novel, just over two hundred pages, chronicles the life of a young Italian woman who is slowly suffering the loss of sight. The story opens with Carolina Fantoni confessing to her mother, father, and fiance that she is going blind. Oddly enough, none of them believe her, choosing to think that she is using a figure of speech to describe her feelings about her upcoming wedding, or casting it off as a joke. Only her friend, neighbor, and local scandalous inventor Turri believes her. The...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Sharri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, festival-of-faith-writing

A beautiful little book.
The topic is interesting: a fiction created around the fact that the first typewriter was invented by an Italian man for his blind friend, the young Contessa Carolina Fantoni.
The writing is gorgeous: I loved the descriptions of the Italian countryside and of the Contessa's thoughts (and people's reactions) as she's slowly going blind.

Several complaints:
The inventor Turri starts out far more interested in things than people. He has Asperger-like qualities, such as stari...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

I'd like to set the tone for this review by quoting the (perfect) first paragraph of this book which immediately hooked me for it's beauty and its appeal. (You can read the entire first page at the author's website as well).

"On the day Contess Carolina Fantoni was married, only one other living person knew that she was going blind, and he was not her groom. This was not because she had failed to warn them. 'I am going blind,' she had blurted to her mother, in the welcome dimness of the family co...more I'd like to set the tone for this review by quoting the (perfect) first paragraph of this book which immediately hooked me for it's beauty and its appeal. (You can read the entire first page at the author's website as well).

"On the day Contess Carolina Fantoni was married, only one other living person knew that she was going blind, and he was not her groom. This was not because she had failed to warn them. 'I am going blind,' she had blurted to her mother, in the welcome dimness of the family coach, her eyes still bright with tears from the searing winter sun. By this time, her peripheral vision was already gone. Carolina could feel her mother take her hand, but she had to turn to see her face. When she did, her mother kissed her, her own eyes full of pity. 'I have been in love, too,' she said, and looked away." (pg. 1)

The Blind Contessa's New Machine is a charming and elegantly told novel about a young woman, Carolina Fantoni, in 1800's Italy who realizes she is going blind. She exemplifies strong human spirit and courage despite virtually lacking the support most people would find essential to make it through something so drastically life-changing. She tries to tell her loved ones (including her fiance, Pietro), but they're all sadly dismissive of her and think she's making something out of nothing. Only one person really believes and understands her -- her childhood friend, Turri, from whom her mother has warned her against since he is married and it wouldn't be good to start any rumors. Years later Turri, with his predilection for invention and in an act of love, provides Carolina with a writing machine he's created so that she can write and communicate with the world.

This story is based on the true history of one of the first typewriters that was, indeed, made for an Italian woman who was going blind. This unique and compact story is full of such beautiful and lyrical prose that, if for no other reason, it should be savored for the writing alone. And Carey Wallace has such an enchanting style of storytelling with subtle humor (from Pietro's clueless-ness to the widespread jealousy over Carolina's writing machine) and alluring descriptions which are used increasingly as Carolina's sight fades more and more and her memories and dreams take on new significance. Here's an example:

"Silk whispered as it rose from her floor and sighed faintly when put to rest in her wardrobe. Cut-glass bottles of perfumes and cream clanked gently. The panels of her curtains brushed the floor as they were drawn open. Wind poured through the window, bringing with it the memory of the long green slope of the yard. The wind was bitingly cold; Carolina's mind instantly stripped the summer trees of their leaves and blanketed the gardens with snow." (pg. 82)

And in another example of her writing, this is a description of how enamored the girls are over a young Pietro.

"A girl could live for weeks on a single glance from him. His small compliments and offhand remarks formed a new scripture, and in breathless conversations and lonely, dream-drunk nights they built whole theologies from them. Any real attention paid to one girl -- two dances in an evening, a flower broken from a bush to decorate her dress -- was liable to elicit tears or bitter jealousy from the others, and in one case, a fit of fainting, although Pietro seemed blissfully unaware of the reason for the scuffle even as the unfortunate girl's father and brother carried her from the party. He thereby revealed a lack of self-consciousness about his own powers that only further endeared him to both the ladies and his friends." (pg. 25)

Throughout the course of The Blind Contessa's New Machine, the reader is taken on a journey with Carolina. In addition to being blind, Carolina deals with romance and a love triangle involving a passionate affair and a love that is, over time, unrequited on her part. The storytelling was intelligent and there was more to the story than what was on the surface -- though I have to admit there were moments when it went over my head... but that's due to fault of my own and not any of the author, and at least I recognized that. =)

The Blind Contessa's New Machine is a beautiful example of literary fiction that will find a place in your heart from the first paragraph. Check out this page on the author's website to see a copy of one of the first letters written on this real life typewriter as well as other information about herself and the book.

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

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Jun 01, 2011 Melee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Did you have any idea the first typewriter was made by a small-time Italian inventor for his friend (and later lover) who started going blind in her late teens? I certainly had no idea. That is, until I saw a little blurb about it on dictionary.com the other month which piqued my interest. I clicked and read the full article, wondering if possibly someone had written a book about it. Well, someone did! Enter: Carey Wallace and The Blind Contessa's New Machine... Such a pragmatic title for this h...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Book Report: On the eve of her wedding to the most eligible, handsomest bachelor in her small world, Contessa Carolina Fantoni announces to him that she is going blind. He laughs dismissively, kisses her indulgently, thus setting the tone for their entire relationship. After full blindness sets in, her eccentric childhood friend and neighbor, an eccentric married inventor and amateur scientist, creates for her the world's first typewriter, that she may continue to communicate with the outsid...more The Book Report: On the eve of her wedding to the most eligible, handsomest bachelor in her small world, Contessa Carolina Fantoni announces to him that she is going blind. He laughs dismissively, kisses her indulgently, thus setting the tone for their entire relationship. After full blindness sets in, her eccentric childhood friend and neighbor, an eccentric married inventor and amateur scientist, creates for her the world's first typewriter, that she may continue to communicate with the outside world. And thus the passionate affair begins, one that would, if either had let it, have destroyed two marriages and possibly four lives. That, in the end, the two people remain married to spouses less than perfect is hardly a new plot or a shocking denoument. But in its bittersweet presentation, it's clear that the author understands the losses of compromise and accommodation that relationships demand of us.

My Review: I am mortally afraid of only a few things in this life: 1) Blindness; 2) being eaten by a shark; and 3) suffocating/drowning. My mother went blind a year or more before she died, and it was a torture. She read passionately, and suddenly couldn't; she was never able to adapt to audiobooks. This rings me like a bell, a tocsin of terror that has me sweating and crying as I type this on a c-o-l-d night. And this book's careful, polished prose made that horrific nightmare (literally for me, at least once a year) endurable, survivable, where in less skilled hands I would simply have burned the book and paid the library for it.

How she did this is, she presented the onset and completion of the process in a series of vignettes that define what it is to see, and to judge the world on what is seen; Wallace makes that process so arbitrary, so essentially meaningless, that as the Contessa charts her progress into eternal night, she and the reader understand that vision as primary perception is a habit of mind. The Contessa plumbs the darkness fearlessly. She lives in it, after she accepts its permanence, with more grace than she appeared to muster during her sighted years.

It's quite a lovely achievement, and it's told in lovely sentences. Wallace, whose author photo rather distressingly resembles a high-school senior picture, had an excellent editor, and handed that editor a lovely book to begin with, you can be sure. This sort of prose doesn't get forged into being on an editor's anvil, it gets the spurs and cracks annealed out of it. Something of the book's raw state remains, thank goodness, because there are some places where opportunities are missed and others are simply AWOL where they would have been welcome. Why thank goodness? Because if this effort were to be perfect, I'd have to hunt this youngster down and kill her in furious writerly envy, that's why.

And I don't want to go to jail over a book.(less)

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Oct 26, 2010 Melody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, novels

Carey Wallace's first novel is a gift to readers who love a good story, but revel in richness of language and imagery. She offers us the story of Carolina Fantoni, who marries and goes blind at the age of 18. As she grapples with the loss of her sight, and what this will mean for her relationships with her new husband and her parents, Carolina cultivates a rich inner life - living in her imagination through memories and waking dreams. But Carolina is isolated until her childhood friend Turri, a...more

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Sep 06, 2010 Meagan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

It's fun fact time! Apparently, the very first working typewriter was created in the early 1800's by an Italian inventor, Pellegrino Turri, for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. Because she was blind, she could no longer use ink, pen and paper, but the typewriter solved her issues communicating with friends and family.

This fascinating tidbit was the inspiration for The Blind Contessa's New Machine. It tells the story of Carolina's youth, during which she doesn't really hav...more It's fun fact time! Apparently, the very first working typewriter was created in the early 1800's by an Italian inventor, Pellegrino Turri, for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. Because she was blind, she could no longer use ink, pen and paper, but the typewriter solved her issues communicating with friends and family.

This fascinating tidbit was the inspiration for The Blind Contessa's New Machine. It tells the story of Carolina's youth, during which she doesn't really have any meaningful personal connections. Her mother is distant, her father loves her but is distracted, she is an only child, etc. Her only real friendship is with the science-minded scatterbrain Turri, who is ten years her senior in addition to being too distracted to be a real companion.

This kind of isolation is the defining theme of the book. Carolina, already so alone, also loses her beloved lake, forest, and cottage when she goes blind. After all, who's going to allow a blind (female) aristocrat to go wandering about through the forest alone? Not really anyone. (Although she's pretty determined and makes a few goes at this anyway. But that's beside the point.) What really matters here is that Carolina becomes almost wholly dependent on other people for everyday life. Someone must read her personal correspondence aloud, and she must trust that they are not leaving anything out. When selecting her clothing for balls, she must trust that the colors of the gown she's wearing are the same as she's been told. If she speaks to someone in the room who refuses to identify themselves, it's not like she can call them on it later. And so on.

There's a kind of desperation, and a melancholy tone, that runs through this book and kept me from truly loving it despite its clear writing, vivid setting and characters that became very real to me. It's a very strong book, and I responded to it exactly as I would expect the author intended. It's just very difficult to say that I "loved" a book when the main character, Carolina, who had such a love of nature and such a vivid imagination, was left with so little control over her everyday life and so few options. Even in her acts of rebellion she's reliant on others to make them possible and, as we all know, people will inevitably let you down. A beautiful and subdued bummer, but I really do recommend reading it, if only for its take on the creation of the first working typewriter.(less)

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Aug 17, 2010 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Blind Contessa's New Machine - What a clumsy title for a lovely little book! This is the story of Carolina Fantoni, a young contessa, adventurous and independent, who goes blind. No one of her acquaintance knows how to treat her once she goes blind so she becomes totally isolated and trapped in her own home. An intelligent and resourceful woman she learns to travel and fly in her dreams. Then a childhood friend, Turri, an eccentric inventor builds her a typewriter to help her reconnect with...more

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Aug 17, 2010 AM rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: carey-wallace, fairy-tale, eloquent

I loved this book and hated it all at the same time. It is a beautiful confession written in such a way that that you feel as if you are watching the whole story through a snow globe. That distance combined with Wallace’s wonderful way with words give this slim volume the enchantment of a fairy tale. There is a surreal feel to the characters that could only exist in such story, at once beloved but unattainable. The Blind Contessa’s New Machine is the story of a young woman who is going blind. Th...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This novella was a quick read, but managed to elicit a lot of surprising feelings in me during that short time. Wallace paints a vivid picture of Carolina's world and the people who inhabit it. I felt for Carolina when she left her childhood and her sight behind at the same time. I did not respect her as much as I thought that I would, though. What I expected to be the story of a tragic love affair between her and Turri never really materialized- I don't believe that she ever really gave her who...more

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Aug 02, 2010 Felice rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reading The Blind Contessa's New Machine began as a purely I-love-the-cover choice. Isn't that a lovely cover? I'm a bit of a sucker for floral patterns. They might not make me purchase a book but they will always make me pick one up to look at. As usual judging a book by it's cover worked out fine, my friend. So much for what your Mother tells you.

There is the kernel of a true story in Contessa. A kind of prehistoric typewriter was created in Italy in the early 1800's for a blind woman to use a...more Reading The Blind Contessa's New Machine began as a purely I-love-the-cover choice. Isn't that a lovely cover? I'm a bit of a sucker for floral patterns. They might not make me purchase a book but they will always make me pick one up to look at. As usual judging a book by it's cover worked out fine, my friend. So much for what your Mother tells you.

There is the kernel of a true story in Contessa. A kind of prehistoric typewriter was created in Italy in the early 1800's for a blind woman to use as a means of communication. From that slim start author Carey Wallace has written an enchanting love story.

The Contessa is Carolina Fantoni. The town beauty, Carolina has been indulged by her parents all her life. Like almost all historical fiction heroines she has grown up to be intelligent and independent. It is fitting that she will marry the prize of the town, Pietro. As her wedding approaches Carolina realizes that she is going blind. Her parents, her fiance, none of them think that it could possibly be true. It's love, it's a momentary anomaly, it's anything but what it really is. The only person who believes her is her is childhood friend Turri. Before the end of her first year as a wife Carolina is blind.

The best parts of this novel concern Carolina's blindness. Her initial panic and bewilderment. Then her acceptance and efforts to live a productive and fulfilled life. It's fascinating. This is where the author's research and writing skills really pay off. You can understand what a tragedy this is and you know that if it weren't for Carolina's rank her life would have ended with her sight.

In an effort to stay in touch with Carolina, Turri invents the typewriter. With this 'communication machine' she will be able to write letters. She will be able to have a small private space in her life. Turri's eccentric spirit and support are the solace of Carolina's life and soon they are lovers. Of course in any time love triangles and infidelity are dangerous but in historical novels especially they can be deadly.

Wallace has written a surprising fairy tale with it's own humor, darkness and sensuality. Her characters are plausible and charismatic. The Blind Contessa's New Machine can at times be a little married to it's own charm but overall Wallce should be praised for bringing such a light touch to the usual grim detail of historical fiction.

Another marvelous thing about Contessa is that it reminded me of one of my favorite novels ever The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini. A gorgeously written novel about an 18th century Duchess who has been blind and mute (for mysterious reasons) since childhood. Duchess is one of the novels that made me fall in love with historical fiction. The writing is superb and account of life at that time is outstanding.
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Jul 30, 2010 Jeannie Mancini rated it 3 of 5 stars

CCarey Wallace's debut novel The Blind Contessa's New Machine, knocked my socks off.... until the last few pages. Starting at the beginning, beautiful young Carolina Fantoni is the daughter of a wealthy count, living lavishly in their Italian country villa. Carolina is loved by her family and pampered by her papa for her every whim. He builds her a fairytale cottage in the nearby woods, a cozy one room shelter to be her secret hideaway of escape when she wishes to lazily dream the days away surr...more CCarey Wallace's debut novel The Blind Contessa's New Machine, knocked my socks off.... until the last few pages. Starting at the beginning, beautiful young Carolina Fantoni is the daughter of a wealthy count, living lavishly in their Italian country villa. Carolina is loved by her family and pampered by her papa for her every whim. He builds her a fairytale cottage in the nearby woods, a cozy one room shelter to be her secret hideaway of escape when she wishes to lazily dream the days away surrounded by nature and animals of the forest. Throughout her childhood she is visited by a man named Turri, older than Carolina but an interesting friend and companion with many similar ideas and thoughts as herself. He is a bit fanciful, an inventor, a Victorian Leonardo Da Vinci. They share similar dreams for the future and both have vivid imaginations to create a storybook life around them that helps them leave behind the problems of the world, and step outside to live in an imaginary world similar to Alice when she fell down the rabbit hole.

Carolina is at the age where she is eligible for marriage; Turri has become engaged to a beautiful woman named Sophia. Carolina's father finds her a match in a local sought after paramour named Pietro. As their courting begins Carolina becomes fraught with fear as she realizes she is losing her sight, and will unfortunately go blind as her grandmother did. She warns Pietro before they marry that she is going blind, but her alert goes unheeded and he believes she is joking. As time passes Pietro and Carolina marry, as do Turri and Sophia. As the two couples begin their lives, Carolina's sight begins to dwindle rapidly until one day she wakes up in complete darkness. Her family is shocked, Pietro is stunned having never believed her warning. The only person to offer her kindness and friendship is Turri, who out of pity for her disability, invents the worlds' first typewriter so that she can now communicate with her family and friends, sending letters to them informing them of weekly news. She also uses this invention to communicate with Turri in secret when they themselves begin a passionate liason. But there is another story within this charming fairytale. A sinister presence in Carolina's house is often heard lurking nearby, footsteps prowl in the dark while Carolina sleeps, whispers and movements of cool air brush by her without her sight to reveal the mysterious stalker. The gothic suspense tale spun within this enchanting story of tragedy and romance will have all lovers of literary gems totally immersed for hours.

The writing is exquisite, the poetic prose is so beautiful that every paragraph will make you weep in awe of the sweet and tender imaginary world the author creates behind Carolina, Pietro and Turri. In a lush setting of 1800 Italy, Carey Wallace's story flutters on gossamer wings as it fly's off the page like a butterfly in flight searching for wonders of the world. Her character development is adept, her storyline was creative and accomplished. Everything about this novel had me enthralled and ready to give it a glowing review of 5 stars, until I got to the end and the story fell apart.

The last few pages revealing the story's grand finale, was so shockingly weak, I just felt like throwing the book across the room out an open window! How an author could lovingly pen such a sensational evocative emotional story that would open any readers' heart to the wonder of the imagination and end it so badly is beyond me. The ending was beyond lame, and so ineffective that my rating dipped down to a mere 3.5 stars. I was highly disappointed and am still in shock. It's almost as if the author didn't know how to end it and just took the easy way out. It was in my eyes, so close to being an award winner and I rather doubt now that readers will like this ending anymore than I did. An unfortunate let down in my opinion.(less)

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Jul 28, 2010 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

For a book that focuses on a blind contessa, this is an extraordinarily visual novel. It’s filled with vivid descriptions: afternoon sun streaming through the scarves in windows, stars that flare into full suns or disappear altogether, bright flashes of bird wings, wicks blazing in chandeliers, colorful marzipan fashioned into the shape of lemons, grapes, apples, and roses, glorious dresses in rich hues of blue watered silk with scarlett ribbons.

The beauty of The Blind Contessa is that the young...more For a book that focuses on a blind contessa, this is an extraordinarily visual novel. It’s filled with vivid descriptions: afternoon sun streaming through the scarves in windows, stars that flare into full suns or disappear altogether, bright flashes of bird wings, wicks blazing in chandeliers, colorful marzipan fashioned into the shape of lemons, grapes, apples, and roses, glorious dresses in rich hues of blue watered silk with scarlett ribbons.

The beauty of The Blind Contessa is that the young author, Carey Wallace, shows us exactly what is lost when Carolina Fantoni, an eighteen year old Italian contessa, gradually loses her eyesight.

Her sight becomes a metaphor for the narrowing of her world in general. She becomes pledged to marry the town’s most handsome and wealthy bachelor, Pietro, who is good to her, but merely because of her exquisite beauty, not because of a meeting of the minds. It is her older married friend Pellegrino Turri, an eccentric inventor who enchants and engages her. Her mother cautions her: “After you are married…many things may happen. You will not speak of him. Neither will your husband, if he is a gentleman. Do you understand?”

As Carolina loses all sight, Turri creates the world’s first typewriter to help her communicate with the outside world and to build deeper intimacy with him; something that is fraught with anxiety since both are married to other people. A simple read reveals a love affair between two people whose very souls connect despite overwhelming odds – a lyrical, poignant revelation of love fulfilled despite difficult odds.

But a deeper read reflects that at its heart, The Blind Contessa’s true theme is the power of imagination: the invention of the typewriter (in historical fact, Turri did create this machine in 1808)…the ways our dreams compensate for what is lost in real life…and how our true vision is in our mind’s eye.

Carey Wallace writes, “As the summer wore on, Turri had developed the habit of asking her where they were each time they met. At the question, a vision always sprang up…hidden waterfalls, new gardens, unknown shores. Perhaps lured by these imaginings, her dreams had begun to return as well.” Interestingly, as Carolina loses her sight, she begins to see whole new and fascinating worlds – those of her own creation. Her unseeing eyes may be useless, but her mind is stunningly alive and able to create a smorgasbord of mind-pictures.

The author demonstrates a sure hand in her historical descriptions and a knowledge of the cost of encroaching blindness. Some characters need a little more back story, but all in all, this is a whimsical recreation of a forgotten time in history.

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May 28, 2010 Bea rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received this as a free book from Book Browse and need to send in a review before two months is over. It took me only two days to read this short novel. It is one that I couldn't put down. It was based on the true historical fact that an inventor named Turri invented a typewriter in 1808 for a blind friend. The author paints them as lovers, but I don't know if that part is true. I didn't particularly like the characters or feel like I knew them very well, but the story is captivating. Even tho...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Carolina Fantoni is an interesting girl. Despite the time frame she spends a lot of time alone at her man made lake. She, like the others in town harbors a secret hope that she will win the heart of the handsome and charismatic Pietro. Turri has all the locals shaking their heads. He muses about unimportant things and conducts odd experiments. Carolina and Turri become fast friends, watching the rain together and coming up with various improbable experiments. That is until she is married and qui...more Carolina Fantoni is an interesting girl. Despite the time frame she spends a lot of time alone at her man made lake. She, like the others in town harbors a secret hope that she will win the heart of the handsome and charismatic Pietro. Turri has all the locals shaking their heads. He muses about unimportant things and conducts odd experiments. Carolina and Turri become fast friends, watching the rain together and coming up with various improbable experiments. That is until she is married and quickly goes blind. While their relationship will blossom, Turri makes her a machine to write with making her the envy of the town.

My cookie cutter description is a lot like how The Blind Contessa's New Machine reads. It's interesting, but very predictable. For a true story it does alright by it's characters. Carolina is hard to understand, her blindness doesn't seem to bother her. Nothing really seems to bother her until she can't see Turri. Pietro is easier to understand, he's beautiful and privileged and because of that he has a kind of arrogance that only comes out when all other charming have failed. Lastly there's Turri. I loved Turri, he was excentric and didn't mind being the talk of the town. Even so he acknowledged his reputation as a crazy man making crazy machines. He's a treat to read because he is so full of wonder.

The story itself is nothing special. Girl is friends with Boy, Girl likes other Boy, Girl and Boy 2 get married and Girl starts and affair with original Boy. Place everyone in the early 1800's and make the Girl blind and that is The Blind Contessa's New Machine. Even though it's fairly simple it was an enjoyable read. Carolina's blindness left me pondering my own vision. She had so much to overcome once she lost her sight, especially since she was in a new house, and I wondered how I'd hold up in the same situations. Her dreams were less of a pleasure to read. There were far to many and they were all about her running around her house and her lake and looking for Turri. They got really repetitive and at some points were happening ever three or four pages.

In short, if you like historical fiction, novels set in Italy or novels the deal prominently with blindness, The Blind Contessa's New Machine is worth picking up, just don't expect to much from it.(less)

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Nov 14, 2010 Lindsay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-sony-reader

I really enjoyed this book. The diction is easy to follow and the landscape and geography is explained as if it has a life of its own. It is easy to imagine living in this time period, perhaps even being Carolina myself! The beginning of the book gave a background of the childhood experiences the protagonist, Carolina, has experienced. Her relationship with her mother is distant and mysterious and her relationship with her father is more practical and caring, in my opinion. Her friendship with T...more I really enjoyed this book. The diction is easy to follow and the landscape and geography is explained as if it has a life of its own. It is easy to imagine living in this time period, perhaps even being Carolina myself! The beginning of the book gave a background of the childhood experiences the protagonist, Carolina, has experienced. Her relationship with her mother is distant and mysterious and her relationship with her father is more practical and caring, in my opinion. Her friendship with Turri, and the circumstances surrounding Turri’s life, is as captivating to the reader as Carolina’s interest in Turri’s next “project” is. When Pietro comes into the story, Carolina has a crush on him along with the rest of the girls. Something I feel most women readers can relate to – yearning for a romance or even recognition from one in which you deem “out of your league”. Carolina has finally noticed that her vision is dwindling at 18 years old, while for years earlier she overlooked the slow decrease or felt that her eyes were playing tricks on her. As a reader with vision in only one eye, I can relate with Carolina going slowly blind unknowingly for her! As humans, we begin to second-guess ourselves or our other senses make up for a loss in one, with us never the wiser!
I did, however, feel as though several characters could have been better developed and several loose ends tied up. I longed for more of an explanation of what happened in the end and felt that the abruptness of the ending was unfortunate. I would have definitely given it 5 stars if the author chose to delve deeper into some of the other characters and their relationships with the main character. That being said, the author did a tremendous job describing what it might be like to live in a world of darkness – the fear of the unknown and feeling as though life is passing you by. I did appreciate the light humor of some of the characters and became angry at other characters when ignorant comments regarding the Contessa’s visual impairment were made. All in all, the book did elicit a feeling of romanticism; that fairy tales, even the smallest of sorts, do occur.
(less)

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Aug 13, 2011 Bette rated it 2 of 5 stars

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May 24, 2011 Christy B (Readin' and Dreamin') rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, historical-romance, italy

Halfway through reading this book, I wasn't sure if I was going to love it or just like it. By the end, I loved it.

Taking place in early 19th century Italy, it's the story of Carolina Fantoni, who discovers she is slowly losing her eyesight. Her parents, nor her fiance believe her. The only person that believes her is her friend Turri, an eccentric local inventor. As she slowly lost her sight, it was heartbreaking, but Carolina showed such courage. Instead of treating herself as an invalid, she...more

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Jun 13, 2010 Renee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Renee by: Goodreads First Reads

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Jul 12, 2010 Bridget rated it 5 of 5 stars

Carolina's eyesight is growing dim. Neither her husband-to-be nor her parents acknowledge this fact, but Carolina has found a way to accept what has happened. When her sight is completely gone, she escapes the real world into a land of endless possibilities. She says goodbye to real life and enters a world where she can fly free. The only person who is truly there for Carolina is Turri. When he constructs the first typewriter, for her, they tumble into a passionate love affair.

I fell in love wit...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Alexa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, that was not the happy post-Hunger Games book I wanted, either. In fact, I was intensely saddened by The Blind Contessa's New Machine.

This book had some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. Reading from the point of view of a blind person is incredible - most of the writing describes sound and smell, things you don't always read about in books. The characters were wonderful. Carolina was a fantastic heroine, Turri was charming and endearing. I loved and hated Pietro, though most...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Laura Stone Johnson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

Up until the last few pages I would have given it four stars. It was unusual, had a certain poetry to it, and created full characters in 207 pages, but the romantic in me felt cheated by the ending.

Eighteen-year-old Contessa Carolina Fantoni is going blind. It’s happening gradually and no one in her family believes her. After all, she’s always been slightly dreamy and odd; never preening and directing her attentions to marriage as do the other young women in her Victorian Italian setting. It’s t...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 26, 2010 Cydnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About Carey Wallace

Carey Wallace was raised in small towns in Michigan. Her work has appeared in Oasis, SPSM&H, Detroit's MetroTimes and quarrtsiluni, which she guest-edited in 2008. She is a founder of the Working Artists Initiative for the International Arts Movement, which helps emerging artists establish strong creative habits, of the Zoae Series, a New York arts showcase which she directed until 2008, and...more

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