A Sign of Her Own

In this suspenseful debut novel set in the 19th century and inspired by historical events, author Sarah Marsh explores the clash of visions that confronted deaf individuals and communities. It was a hearing society that often denigrated sign language and espoused the value of visible speech, a system of phonetic symbols developed by Alexander Melville Bell in 1867 and later promoted by his son, Alexander Graham Bell.

In Pawtucket, R.I., Ellen Lark is 4 years old when she contracts scarlet fever, and loses her hearing. Ellen’s loving family nurtures her and develops a rich system of home-signs by which they are able to freely communicate.

However, everything changes when Ellen is sponsored to enroll in Miss Roscoe’s Oral School, the first of its kind in the United States. In this school for deaf students, using sign language is prohibited and punishable. At the same time, Ellen’s widowed mother moves to England, leaving her daughter to cope with her new reality and assimilate the mantra she daily encounters, that there is no place for sign language in the hearing world.

Later, when Ellen is given the opportunity to study in Boston under the tutelage of Alexander Graham Bell and to learn visible speech, she feels hopeful that she will be able to assimilate as an adult into the hearing world. After all, the goal of Oralism is to make deaf children in the likeness of hearing children so the public will detect no difference between them.

As Ellen studies under Bell, he draws her into his confidence by telling her that he has a dream to make an instrument that will accomplish “the electrical transmission of speech.” Ellen’s hopes are buoyed as she is empowered by Bell’s trust in her to keep his secret.

However, as events unfold, Ellen encounters betrayals stacked on top of betrayals, each adding to her confusion, shaking her assurance of her place in the realization of Bell’s dream, and making her question whom she can trust. And when she breaks promises to Bell and others, she wonders if she can even trust herself to make wise choices.

In a gripping closing scene, Ellen grasps what she has discovered through her trials: “What I learned was that everything useful to survive and love in the world was taught to me by deaf people or people who saw their value. And every one of them had been taken away from me.” As Ellen embraces “a sign of her own,” her life is set on a new course of empowerment, meaning, and connection.

Intricately plotted, emotionally rich, and historically enlightening, A Sign of Her Own is a captivating read for lovers of historical fiction. (Park Row)