In This Sign

In This Sign

Summary

Two young deaf people, Abel and Janice, leave their punitive school and begin their life as a married couple ‘Outside’ – in the unwelcoming world of the hearing. A misunderstanding about the payment plan on a car kickstarts years of debt, hard labour and ostracization; but they find solace and expression in the richness of Sign, in their hard-won independence and in the birth of their daughter Margaret.

First published in 1970, only a decade after ASL’s formal recognition as a language, In This Sign is a rare, compassionate portrait of the deaf community and a moving family saga that spans the twentieth century.

With an introduction by Sara Novic and a new afterword by the author.

About the author

Joanne Greenberg

Joanne Greenberg is the author of nineteen books, including I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. She received the Harry and Ethel Daroff Memorial Fiction Award as well as the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction in 1963 for her novel The King's Persons. Her novel In This Sign was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called Love Is Never Silent. Greenberg was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic for thirteen years.
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