The Story

Deafening tells the story of Grawnia, a girl in a rural Canadian town at the beginning of the 20th century, who has lost her hearing due to scarlet fever. The story spans just over about fifteen years of her life, starting from when she is a very young girl learning how to communicate with people after losing her hearing, to going to school for the deaf, to falling in love and getting married, to living through WWI.

The Review

I don’t know what it is about books about Canadians in WWI, but I feel like I’ve read more of them in the past few years than I have of all other nationalities in all other wars combined. I’ve read some brilliant ones that I have/will come back to again and again, but you wouldn’t think it’s a subject matter I would enjoy reading about. It’s usually emotionally raw (in at least portions of it) and it tears you to bits, but it keeps drawing me back for more…

This book was definitely one of those about WWI that I will be coming back to again. I loved this book so very, very much.

It was a bit hard to get into at first. It’s a quiet novel, so felt a little bit slow-paced even though there was always something going on, whether it was Grawnia’s adjustment to being involved with the deaf community, or whether it’s about her husband Jim’s experiences in the war.

I’ve never read any books before where the main character is a deaf person, but I love how this gave me such an insight into the life of someone who would not be able to hear a thing. It was brilliant to get a glimpse into that. And even the way the book is narrated, it just seemed to embody that soundlessness – when you’re reading about Gawnia, you don’t hear the noise of anything else that is going on, it’s just focused exactly on what is important at that exact moment.

The Bottom Line

What an utterly beautiful book! It was a bit slow moving at times, but totally worth getting into. I want to say that this is one of the best books I’ve read this year, but seeing as I’ve now read five books this year… it doesn’t really express how much I loved it.

Other Reviews

In Spring it is the Dawn, Life is a Patchwork Quilt. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.