A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh
What's It About?
A mesmerizing tale of historical fiction that follows a deaf former student of Alexander Graham Bell as she learns to reclaim her own authentic voice.A Sign of Her Own is an incredible look into what life was like for the deaf population during the late 1800s/early 1900s, written by Sarah Marsh, an author who grew up deaf.
Ellen Lark has had a hard life but has fought tooth and nail to get where she is today after losing her hearing to scarlet fever as a child. Alexander Graham Bell took her under his wing, and she became his close confidante while learning visible speech.
He tells her about his hopes to create a device that will transmit voices across a wire… the telephone. But when Ellen learns about his past and finds out how he has betrayed the deaf community, she has to think twice about her next move to support his cause.
Evocative Tribute to Communication
This book is a beautiful addition to any historical fiction lover’s bookshelf. It’s different and speaks not only to a time period we don’t often see, but also to a character who we don’t often encounter. This book made me think a lot and caused me to dive into my own research into the time period on the side — something I really didn’t know much about.
At its core, this book is a tribute to communication and how it has evolved over time. How inventions and understanding have paved the way for better connections between humans. It explores how understanding and the willingness to do what’s right fuels all.
I can only use the experience of reading this book to understand the challenges deaf people have faced in communication, especially during a time when sign language wasn’t recognized as an important tool. Of course, just one book can only scratch the surface of the day-to-day struggle that so many people must have felt as they fought to establish themselves in a world that was not made to support them, that didn’t view sign language as a pivotal part of life.
Personal Experience Adds Extra Depth
A Sign of Her Own portrays the challenges that Ellen faced, where she felt so dependent on others while trying to determine her sense of self and identity without the support of broader society.
Sarah Marsh has written based on her own experience of deafness, which brings so much light to the story through her experiences. She is able to tap into and write a story that understands what things must have been like for women like Ellen during this time period.
Marsh’s ability to decipher the accounts and journals of Alexander Graham Bell’s deaf students and the empathy that she brings to their experiences is priceless and adds so much depth to the story. As a reader, you feel you can really believe and trust her account of Ellen’s life, inner thoughts and feelings.
About Sarah Marsh:
Sarah Marsh was short-listed 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.
