This week, on Outlook, we discuss disability literature with the reviews of two books, involving fairy-tales and the story of a blind mechanic.

In our first half hour, we review Disfigured by Amanda Leduc, as we recall the fairy-tales we knew as siblings, growing up with blindness and disability. pure goodness and pure evil and how themes of physical or invisible disabilities manifested in fantastical stories through the generations, Leduc's scholarly exploration of the themes of disability in fairy-tales offer plenty of examples of the ways in which inclusion, diversity of thought weren’t always clear.

Next, it’s The Blind Mechanic by Marilyn Davidson Elliott, based on her father and his life around vehicles and their engines, how he was able to support his family with jobs in the automotive sector. He was one of the survivors of the worst disaster in Canadian maritime history, losing both his eyes in the Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion of 1917.

After you hear our reviews on these works of disability literature, maybe you’ll want to check out one or both books, whether you like princesses or automobiles.