From the Corner of His Eye

"Bartholomew Lampion is blinded at the age of three, when surgeons reluctantly remove his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer, but although eyeless, Barty regains his sight when he is thirteen. The hands of a holy healer do not bring about this sudden ascent from a decade of darkness into the glory of light. No celestial trumpets announce the restoration of his vision, just as none had announced his birth. A rollercoaster has something to do with his recovery, as does a seagull. And you can't discount the importance of Barty's profound desire to make his mother proud of him before she dies. The first time she died was the day Barty was born. January 6, 1965." -back cover.