Hear No Evil

Author/Guide: Sarah Smith

Why a Booktrail?

1817 Glasgow: a deaf woman is accused of infanticide. Based on a true story

ISBN: B09GF4NBRR
Genre: Crime, Inspired by true events

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What you need to know before your trail

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.

No evidence is yielded from the river. Unable to communicate with their silent prisoner, the authorities move Jean to the decaying Edinburgh Tolbooth in order to prise the story from her. The High Court calls in Robert Kinniburgh, a talented teacher from the Deaf & Dumb Institution, in the hope that he will interpret for them and determine if Jean is fit for trial. If found guilty she faces one of two fates; death by hanging or incarceration in an insane asylum.

Through a process of trial and error, Robert and Jean manage to find a rudimentary way of communicating with each other. As Robert gains her trust, Jean confides in him, and Robert begins to uncover the truth, moving uneasily from interpreter to investigator, determined to clear her name before it is too late.

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Glasgow, Edinburgh and the trial of Jean Campbell

Based on a landmark case in Scottish legal history.

Jean Campbell was a deaf Glaswegian woman who was accused of throwing her three year old child into the river Clyde from the on the 19th of November 1816.

Since she was deaf and dumb , when she was brought to trial with strong evidence against her. Mr. Kinniburgh, the master of the Edinburgh School for the Deaf and Dumb, was sent for and he provided interpretation during the trial. IT was a major case and the first of its kind.

The author’s note is fantastic and she gives us food for thought when she says that British Sign Language was only official recognized as a language bu the UK government in2003.