Poor Miss Finch

"Poor Miss Finch" by Wilkie Collins is a novel about a wealthy, but blind girl who temporarily regains her sight while being in a romantic triangle with two brothers. Lucilla Finch (21) has been blind since infancy. Shortly after the narrator, Madame Pratolungo, arrives to serve as her paid companion, Lucilla falls in love with Oscar Dubourg, her shy and solitary neighbor, also wealthy, who devotes himself to craftsmanship in precious metals.

After being attacked and knocked unconscious by robbers, Oscar is nursed by Lucilla and falls in love with her, and the couple become engaged. Their plans are jeopardized by Oscar's epilepsy, a result of the blow to his head. The only effective treatment, a silver compound, has the side-effect of turning his skin a permanent, dark blue-grey. Despite her blindness, Lucilla suffers a violent phobia of dark colors, and family and friends conceal Oscar's condition from her. Meanwhile, Oscar's twin brother, Nugent, returns from America…

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are "The Woman in White", and "The Moonstone", which was the first modern English detective novel.