Hear No Evil: Shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger 2023

Product Information

Imagine being unable to hear what is being said around you as men stand in court and decide your fate.

I wish the narrative had allowed Jean to have more of a voice, to hear her thoughts, understand her feelings, as was given to Richard. This character believes that Jean – and other deaf people – would somehow have heightened senses or be more “aware”.Whether Sibbald was supremely confident about the state of the people in the cells or whether there were currently no other inhabitants apart from the newly arrived Glaswegian murderess, Robert couldn’t tell. There are persecuted Irish Catholic laborers, including Jean’s paramour Jim Donnelly whose love for Jean isn’t enough for him to support her and her unborn child. The jobs of the people in the coach with him back to Edinburgh (an engineer draining Nor’ Loch, a brewer setting up in Fountainbridge); once there, the timetable of the deaf school he runs and the anticipation among the pupils for the following month’s balloon flight over Arthur’s Seat by James Sadler. The story is told well, as gradually Robert tries first to get Jean to explain what really happened to her baby, and then to try to find the evidence to free her. Sometimes the explanations go on for far longer than one would expect – Kinniburgh’s exposition on sign language to a partly deaf congregation lasts for ten full pages – but as the story is set at a time when signing is still new and strange, it is easy to understand why.

But as the novel shows, the appearance of respectability is not the same as its reality, and it is often the most vulnerable, like Jean Campbell, who are the victims of upper-class venality.There is the small church for the deaf in Glasgow, led by a gentle cleric named Angus Buchanan, a man dedicated to the largely untaught deaf community in his city. The prose is measured and a little underwhelming at times, although I did enjoy the Victorian-style short chapters and character descriptions. This is a thoroughly engaging book with characters that will stay with you long after the final page. Campbell's deafness is the axis upon which the book turns, enabling Smith to show us both the prejudices and assumptions made about the Deaf community at the time, and insights into the fascinating evolution of signed language - the key by which Kinniburgh begins to earn Jean's trust and unlock her story.

Lots of interesting information about sign language and how deaf people were perceived and the story was good too. An immensely important debut that gives a voice to those from our history who are often forgotten, who didn’t have their own voice and who have always been here. Hear No Evil is based on the true story of Jean Campbell, a deaf woman accused of throwing her baby into the Clyde. Robert is essential to the court case and he takes it on himself to make decisions regarding what is happening. We would also like to use cookies (including from third-party providers like Google) to monitor site traffic so we can understand our audiences and provide personalised advertising for Book Festival events you may be interested in.It made me think of the harshness of this time for women and then add the fact Jean was deaf and you have a fascinating story to tell.

Glasgow, 1817: Jean Campbell - a young, Deaf woman - is witnessed throwing a child into the River Clyde from the Old Bridge.Smith uses Jean Campbell’s case to explore the lives of deaf people in Regency-era Scotland, and as such the plot is often secondary to the historical context. Through Kinniburgh and his acquaintances we get a fascinating insight into the deaf community and the development of sign language which I enjoyed greatly. The book itself is actually very easy to read, despite the subject matter (and I’ll admit I cheated and read up on the real Jean to prepare myself) it’s almost got a charm to it, it’s not gratuitous despite discussing domestic violence, the discrimination of the deaf community or infanticide. Just for context: British Sign Language was not recognised as a language until 2003, nearly 200 years later and certainly not something that was particularly accessible to many d/Deaf people at that time.