AustLit

'Who is Edith Ackers? All we know is that she is deaf, and her father, Benjamin, is one of Europe's most powerful champions of oralism, the belief that deaf people can be taught to speak. Oralism is sweeping through late 19th-century Europe, threatening to overturn the lives of deaf people, and making sign language redundant. David Archer, a young English journalist, is at first convinced that oralism will bring deaf people into the hearing world. But the passion of deaf people, their defence of sign language, and their resistance to the idea that hearing people know what's best for them, convinces him otherwise. At a public meeting in London, Benjamin Ackers, a wealthy barrister and member of British Parliament, declares that oralism has restored his daughter to hearing society. However he keeps her hidden. With the help of some hearing supporters, Archer decides to track her down. But the immovable forces of influence, money and power produce an unexpected result.' (Publication summary)