Review by Booklist Review
Everyone has always tried to "fix" Ellen Lark; the problem is, she's never felt broken. Ellen was once a student of Alexander Graham Bell during his work with the deaf in Boston. Now, years later, Ellen has a new life in England, complete with a fiancé, but when Bell appears, promoting his new invention, everything changes. Bell asks for her help spreading his Visible Speech techniques for the deaf, and while Ellen is reluctant to resume her acquaintance with Bell, her fiancé sees an opportunity in the new telephone business. Ellen's past and her relationship with Bell unfold slowly, with the narrative jumping back and forth between the past and the present. Bell's patent is under scrutiny, with claims that he's not the inventor coming out of the woodwork. Blackmail and secrets could ruin this new life Ellen has made in England--but it might be for the best. Readers will enjoy the unique voice of a woman whose loss of hearing and struggle to fit into normal society has shaped her entire life.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Marsh debuts with a middling historical about a Deaf woman in 1878 London who questions her efforts to assimilate with the hearing populace. As a young woman, Ellen Lark is an eager pupil of Alexander Graham Bell, whose Visible Speech system teaches Deaf people to speak via phonetic symbols. After meeting a Deaf man named Frank in a park, she introduces him to Bell's system. Soon, though, Frank encourages Ellen to recognize the importance of sign language, and she pushes back on her family's insistence that she only speak orally. When Bell's patent rights to the telephone are disputed by Western Union, Ellen is forced to decide whether to stand by her former mentor or side with Frank, who happens to be working for Bell's rival. Marsh skillfully captures Ellen's drive to forge a meaningful life for herself and fellow Deaf people ("It wasn't the voice that mattered: it was the connection"). Unfortunately, the narrative is flooded with an overabundance of historical details, which tend to throttle the momentum. This doesn't quite take flight from its intriguing source material. Agent: Nelle Andrew, Rachel Mills Literary. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Briton Marsh's beautifully written debut unfolds the story of Ellen Lark in a series of flashbacks. After Ellen loses her hearing from scarlet fever in mid-1800s New England, she and her family communicate with their own "home signs," as well as lip reading, which Ellen learns at Oral School. Eventually confronted with the Visible Speech method at Professor Alexander Graham Bell's School of Oratory at Boston University, Ellen strives to please her charismatic professor by learning to speak using his system. Bell often shares with her his ideas for new inventions, such as the telephone. But when Bell begins neglecting his students, Ellen questions his methods and the motivations for both his invention and Visible Speech. Years later, Bell asks Ellen to publicly support him when a rival inventor contests his claim to the telephone. Speaking against Bell could destroy the life Ellen has built, but supporting him could suppress the voice she has worked hard to claim as her own. VERDICT Inspired by real accounts of Alexander Graham Bell's Deaf students, Marsh's story shows a lesser-known side to the famous inventor while also encouraging readers to contemplate the concept of finding one's true voice.--Lucinda Ward
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