Hear No Evil: Shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger 2023

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However, as much as I loved reading a story that features deafness and BSL, I’m holding out for more actual representation of deaf experiences and perspectives. It is a perfect mix of fact, atmospheric setting, strong characters and an understanding of what life was like for someone with a disability in the early 19th Century.

It really made me appreciate the story more being able to picture our cities the way they were back then… resulting in many a black hole (and a message to the author at times too!Just as there are now, there were prejudices and assumptions made about the Deaf community at the time, and we get some insight into how sign language evolved when it becomes the key by which Kinniburgh begins to earn Jean’s trust and unlock her story. The blog there tells you what happened next, but as that would be too much of a spoiler, I won’t give the game away. In the burgeoning industrial city of Glasgow in 1817 Jean Campbell - a young, Deaf woman - is witnessed throwing a child into the River Clyde from the Old Bridge.

A brilliant teacher of the deaf and a compassionate man, Kinniburgh visits Jean in prison and slowly, very slowly, wins her confidence and tries to draw out the basic details of her harrowing story.The fact that she has so many modern attitudes – being open about her desire for her labourer boyfriend, not minding that he’s from the other side of the sectarian divide, and the fact that she ‘shows no shame or remorse’ about living in sin seals the deal. Hear No Evil is based on the true story of Jean Campbell, a deaf woman accused of throwing her baby into the Clyde. John Gordon Sinclair (2014 event) John Gordon Sinclair continues to put distance between himself and Gregory’s Girl, the film that made his name. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Israel Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Sri Lanka Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U.

It evoked the Edinburgh of that time brilliantly and vividly and gave such a wonderful insight into the early quest to understand and give a voice to people who cannot hear. Just as there are now, there were prejudices and assumptions made about the Deaf community at the time, and we get some insight into how sign language evolved when it becomes the key by which Kinniburgh begins to earn Jean's trust and unlock her story. Hear No Evil' is based on the true story of Jean Campbell, a deaf woman accused of throwing her baby in the river in 1817. The historical setting of Edinburgh and Glasgow are rendered well and give an insight into the developments of the cities and how they would have looked in the 1800s. A fascinating exploration of deafness and human value amid the sights, sounds of smells of 1817 urban Scotland.Based on a landmark case in Scottish legal history Hear No Evil is a richly atmospheric exploration of nineteenth-century Edinburgh and Glasgow at a time when progress was only on the horizon. Now add in a time when women were seen as a lower class citizen, a commodity for men to enjoy and possess. Add the alleged crime of child murder and the fact the suspect is deaf, and you have a great and complex subject to reveal. The author of this novel, Sarah Smith, notes that while the trial of Jean Campbell is historical, she has fictionalized most aspects of it. Then again, the author of this book is a hearing woman and I probably would have disliked it a lot she had written a book focussing solely on a d/Deaf perspective.

Although Campbell is accused of murdering her child (in the novel, a baby) by throwing it into the Clyde, Smith loads the dice in her favour so much that you never really think she is guilty of the crime. It is very rare that we switch to Jean’s perspective at all – in fact, most of the time we get the perspectives of the various hearing men that she encounters throughout her life, some of which are nicer and more respectful and understanding than others. Little is known of the real Jean Campbell, but Smith colours in the details of her life with utter conviction, showing us a hardy, dignified soul who has undergone a terrible experience at the hands of others only too ready to take advantage of her. Although it is fiction, the way the story is presented is almost like reading a factual account particularly the sections which take place in the court.This character believes that Jean – and other deaf people – would somehow have heightened senses or be more “aware”. That’s how, for example, I know that the sign for ‘in the past’ looks like (my description, not hers) a traffic cop beckoning cars onwards. The focus of the narration is however firmly in the 21st century, the emphasis is all on what a modern reader would notice most if transplanted to this time, the contrasts between now and 1817.