Desc: 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. This sudden ascent from a decade of darkness into the glory of light is not brought about by the hands of a holy healer. No celestial trumpets announce the restoration of his vision, just as none announced his birth. A roller coaster has something to do with his recovery, as does a seagull. And one cannot 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. |