Sunday 6 July 2014

Fiction Featuring Blind Protagonists: A Bibliography

My academic research focuses on depictions of blindness in French literature. But I am also collecting examples of contemporary (ie post-2000) Anglophone fiction which features blind or partially blind characters. Below is the list of books I have read so far, along with links to blog posts I have written about some of them. More books will be added as I read them. Recommendations welcome.


  • Comby, Cristelle, Russian Dolls: The Neve and Egan Cases Book 1 (2013) Thriller featuring a sighted student and her blind professor as an unlikely detective team.
  • Doerr, Anthony, All the light we cannot see (Fourth Estate, 2014): epic, beautiful and moving World War II adventure set in Paris, Germany and St Malo. Highly recommended.
  • Elkins, Kimberley, What is Visible (Twelve Books, 2014): extremely carefully researched, beautifully written and enthralling historical fiction about Laura Bridgman, the first death-blind American to learn English. Highly recommended. Blog post here.
  • Ellen, Laura, Blind Spot (Harcourt Children's Books, 2012): young adult murder mystery featuring a partially blind protagonist / narrator.  Blog post here.
  • Foyle, Naomi, Astra (The Gaia Chronicles) (Jo Fletcher Books, 2014): sci-fi / fantasy eco-utopia novel featuring, amongst other things, a character with one eye. Blog post here.
  • Gillard, Linda, Star Gazing (Platkus, 2008); perceptive romance featuring a blind female protagonist and her sighted lover. Blog post here.
  • Green, John, The fault in our stars (Penguin, 2013): teenage cancer coming-of-age love story.
  • Halm, Martyn, V., The Amsterdam Assassin Katla Novels Series: Reprobate (2012); Peccadillo (2012); Rogue (2013): fast-paced and multi-layered thrillers featuring a professional assassin and her blind partner. Blog post here.
  • Harris, Joanne, blueeyedboy (Doubleday, 2010): dark cyber-thriller with a blind protagonist and a surprising twist. Blog post here.
  • Macgregor, Virginia, What Milo Saw (Sphere, 2014): sensitive and clever children's story where events are seen through the eyes of a boy with retinitis pigmentosa.
  • Nussbaum, Susan, Good Kings, Bad Kings (2013): honest and hard-hitting novel set in a care home for disabled teenagers. One of the characters is partially blind. Highly recommended.
  • Sedgwick, Marcus, She is not invisible (Indigo, 2013): young adult mystery thriller featuring a blind narrator. Blog post here.
  • Walliams, David, Ratburger (HarperCollins, 2012): children's adventure featuring a blind villain. Blog post here