THE SOUND OF HER VOICE

A debut biography/memoir centers on a blind couple and their daughter.

In her book, Harper, a retired social worker, tells the story of her parents’ lives and her own journey. The first part is a biography of her father and mother, who grew up in the 1920s and came from very different family backgrounds but had in common being blind. The author chronicles their early childhoods and educations and their initial meeting at the Indiana School for the Blind. Harper then discusses their courtship and married life as well as her father Mario Pieroni’s career as a lawyer, judge, community leader, and early activist, advancing “the cause of blind people.” The second part looks at Harper’s own life as the youngest of four children along with her parents’ later years until their deaths. This portion is told in the first person and includes separate reminiscences (including by her father) and eulogies. Each chapter is numbered in Braille, and the volume features photographs relating to her parents’ admission to the Indiana School for the Blind. Harper offers an inspiring story that avoids becoming saccharine, which sometimes happens with biographies/memoirs. Although she is optimistic, she pulls no punches when describing the discrimination her parents—and the blind in general—faced during the historical period she covers. She also brings out the intersection of disabilities and gender—for example, Harper’s father was taught how to go out in the world independently but her mother, Jane Pieroni, was not. And when recounting her parents’ courtship and marriage, the author does not overly romanticize events—for instance, Jane clashed with her husband over his deference to his mother. While the book’s second half is a somewhat less engaging read, it skillfully shows how Harper’s parents’ extraordinary lives could also be simply ordinary.

A moving and believable family account.