Overview

"Mary Walsingham is the story of a deaf and mute girl (born in 1621) to a well-to-do family in Littleton, England. The reason for her misbehavior remains undetected until she is nine years old, when a Mohawk girl from the colonies comes to work at the manor house. Sky Flower uses her experience with 'speaking with hands' (used between traders of different nations and clans) to help Mary communicate.Mary blossoms as she bonds with her teacher and learns to express herself through hand gestures and later, the written word. Then seven years later, at Sky Flower's sudden departure, she is grief-stricken. The gift of a new-born foal helps to console her. A year later, Mary devises a plan to rescue her ""Angel"" from the harsh practices of training horses, while at the same time helping her father with a business transaction. She finds herself on a difficult voyage, wholly unaware of what to expect in a hardscrabble plantation in the Connecticut River Valley. As she adjusts to the new Puritan culture, Mary learns to be less self-absorbed and more understanding of others. She even figures out ways to help members of her new family. In so doing, she learns to assess the circumstances of her surroundings more rationally and to plan the next stage of her life. A young Dutch sailor complements the cast. Part II: NOTES ABOUT THE STORY presents a wealth of information about deafness, horses, religious intolerance, colonial settlement of Hartford, Connecticut, and many other topics raised in the narrative."

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9798989906284

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Reviews

The novel, Mary Walsingham, is a great resource for students at the high school level as her story provides a live narrative of the Deaf experience in the 1600s. ...The narrative goes into detail regarding her coming of age and discovering the world as a deaf individual... I loved the story and plan to use excerpts in my ASL classroom. Meghan Fitzgibbons, American Sign Language Teacher, Chelmsford High School, Chelmsford, MA ...the author brings together elements of good storytelling: intrigue, conflict, joy, disappointment, heartache, and hope. Mary Walsingham is a tenacious girl who overcomes grief at two milestones in her life. On a larger scale, the novel can be considered an eye-opener of social customs and beliefs in Stuart England and the Puritan colony of early Hartford, CT. A treat for all readers is the impressive reference section called NOTES ABOUT THE STORY. The author includes mini-essays on the treatment of deafness by the medical profession and the development of visual communications for the deaf person. Extensive as well are his notes about horses, historical events, and other matters of health in the 17th century. The LIST OF NOTES in table form is a welcoming and convenient tool for finding a particular topic. Hats off to the author of this phenomenal novel! Judy Myrth (ret.) Editor, Bibliography of the History of Art, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA

Author Information

Ray E. Phillips enjoyed a long career in which he combined both writing and medicine. Born and raised in Massachusetts, where some of his ancestors were among the first Pilgrim settlers, he was an ardent student of history. He sought to imagine the everyday joys and tribulations of people of the past, connecting their experiences with our own, despite the vast differences.

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