Light a Single Candle by Beverley Butler

Light A Single Candle by Beverley Butler is a great book written in the early 60s that I discovered in high school. Cathy Wheeler becomes completely blind in her early teens when surgery to treat glaucoma goes seriously wrong. As well as adjusting to her sensory disability, Cathy also faces the complicated responses of friends, family and strangers, ranging from unsolicited to pity through to embarrassment, avoidance and rejection. Some of these experiences lead to Cathy giving in to pressure to attend the State School for the Blind, a horrible experience, that eventually leads her to Trudy, a German shepherd and trained guide dog, who facilitates her reintegration to the sighted world. This book, which draws on Butler’s own experience, has the ring of authenticity, in its portrayal of blindness, of Cathy’s adjustment and of other people’s reactions.