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.
A Sign of Her Own is a must-read for this year. A uniquely compelling voice with almost poetic, richly descriptive language that both captures the time period while being so easily readable. Ellens' storytelling was quiet, thoughtful but not too slow with a pace that kept moving naturally throughout the story, her observations stopping to think or recall a memory in almost a dreamlike way that gave a sort of magical realism to her words. There were some long strings of thought I almost tripped over a few times but it always pulled me right back in.
One of the things I loved was the way Marsh uses speech indicators throughout to give a true representation of Ellens' experience, with speech marks being used for sign and written language as it felt in her world - just one of the little details that made everything truly absorbing. We move between her younger years and the present day when she hears from Bell once again, gradually getting to know her and how she got involved in a complicated web of betrayal and lies in one mans grab for power. Along the way, we get a unique perspective about the creation of universal sign languages, seeing many types of communication from writing, symbols, lip reading and speech therapy - putting us in the position of thinking about the barriers put in place before a common ground or technology gave people a voice people would consider acceptable. There's a bit of archaic language that would've been commonly used at the time which may be uncomfortable for some people to read, but it should make you uncomfortable to think about the treatment anyone not able-bodied have, and still do receive.
Underneath all the fabulous storytelling was a powerful message that gives back the voices of women who have been forced out of the history books, but also the countless people trying to navigate a world that was not designed for them. It may a fictionalised account of history but it captures a striking turning point in the fight for equity and everyone should add this to their book shelf.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Thank you to the team at Tandem Collective for inviting me to take part in this readalong campaign. I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title.
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