98: Sarah Marsh (A Sign Of Her Own)

Charlie and Sarah Marsh (A Sign Of Her Own) discuss the lesser-known aspect of Alexander Bell's work - teaching deaf children to speak - in terms of both the real history and the fictionalised character she created in order to explore the events. This includes snippets about the manufactured rivalry between the two inventors of the telephone; Bell's wife, Mabel Hubbard (who was deaf); the Deaf community in London in the late 1800s; and the way Sarah employs language - written, signed, spoken - to excellent effect. A transcript is available on my site General references: Wikipedia's page on Bell and Elisha Grey's rivalry Books mentioned by name or extensively: Reuben Conrad: Deaf School Child Sarah Marsh: A Sign Of Her Own Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 1st December 2023; published 27th May 2024 Where to find Sarah online: Twitter || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:55 The inspiration for A Sign Of Her Own 03:27 Alexander Bell's work with deaf children, 'Visible Speech', and the reality of it all 07:08 The Deaf community in London at the time 08:13 The locations - America and London 09:21 The characters, particularly Sarah's fictional heroine, Ellen, and where bird names as surnames come into it 11:49 Talking about Mabel Hubbard, Alexander Bell's wife, who was deaf 13:24 The rivalry between Alexander Bell and Elisha Grey 15:30 The way Sarah uses different languages in her book 18:57 The romance in the book, between Ellen and Frank 20:48 Where Sarah sees Ellen going in her life beyond the book 22:34 Brief notes on what Sarah's writing now Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops