Dearest Eugenia Haggis by Ann Marie Healy

Pauline Khenghis, a young, failed writer, spends her frustrated days taking care of an older blind man named Mister Blind Johnny Knoll in his isolated lakehouse. To her dismay, Mister Blind Johnny Knoll hires Eugenia Haggis, an "old maid," to keep house for the winter. Pauline begins writing fake love letters to Eugenia under the pen name "Mr. Alfred Sonneville," and is able to manipulate all of their communication because the wild Sanagret boys from across the lake taunt Eugenia so violently that she is unable to leave the house. As the letters grow more intimate, their epistolary courtship grows stronger until, in a final act of cruelty and compassion, Pauline sets Eugenia free.