A Sign of Her Own: How can a deaf woman speak out in a hearing world
(Hardback)
Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 29th April 2025
Paperback
Published: 13th February 2024
Hardback
Published: 28th May 2024
Publishing Details
A Sign of Her Own: How can a deaf woman speak out in a hearing world
By (Author) Sarah Marsh
Headline Publishing Group
Tinder Press
28th May 2024
1st February 2024
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Fiction
Coping with / advice about physical impairments / disability
Physical Properties
Hardback
432
Width 162mm, Height 236mm, Spine 40mm
680g
Description
'Beautifully written and illuminating... Excellently conveys the experience of being deaf in a hearing world' Priscilla Morris, Women's Prize Shortlisted author of Black Butterflies
'A fantastic novel. Shines a light into a hidden corner of history' Louise Hare author of This Lovely City and Miss Aldridge RegretsEllen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiance receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell.Ellen knows immediately what Bell really wants from her. Ellen is deaf, and for a time was Bell's student in a technique called Visible Speech. As he instructed her in speaking, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device which would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now, on the cusp of wealth and renown, Bell wants Ellen to speak up in support of his claim to the patent to the telephone, which is being challenged by rivals.But Ellen has a different story to tell: that of how Bell betrayed her, and other deaf pupils, in pursuit of ambition and personal gain, and cut Ellen off from a community in which she had come to feel truly at home. It is a story no one around Ellen seems to want to hear - but there may never be a more important time for her to tell it.Reviews
Beautifully written and original, A Sign of Her Own shines a light into a hidden corner of history. Ellen Lark's story is one that will resonate with anyone who has struggled to fit in. A fantastic novel. -- Louise Hare, author of THIS LOVELY CITY and MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS
An accomplished debut that excellently conveys the experience of being deaf in a hearing world. A Sign of Her Own gives a fascinating insight into a moment in history when the invention of the telephone was poised to connect countless people, yet deaf communities were being silenced by a movement against the use of sign language. Beautifully written, absorbing and illuminating. -- Priscilla Morris, author of BLACK BUTTERFLIES
'Marsh's debut is an astonishing achievement, delving readers into the mind of a woman who lives in silence but whose mind bursts with a fierce intelligence and wit. A sobering look at the way people with disabilities were treated in the past, as well as an inside view of one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. Remarkable' Fiona Davis, New York Times Bestselling author of The Spectacular
Author Bio
Sarah Marsh was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish prize in 2019 and selected for the London Library Emerging Writers programme in 2020. A Sign of Her Own is her first novel, inspired by her experiences of growing up deaf and her family's history of deafness. She lives in London.
