Ms. Hen reviews Set Me Free

 

Set Me Free

Ann Clare LeZotte

Scholastic Press

2021

Ms. Hen picked this book up at a Little Free Library near where she lives. She knew nothing about the book or the author, but she liked the cover, and she read the back, and it sounded interesting to her. She discovered that the author is Deaf, and Ms. Hen does not remember reading a novel by a Deaf author before. She's not sure why, but there aren't many Deaf authors.

This novel is a sequel to another one by the same author, entitled SHOW ME A SIGN. This book is a stand alone, and can be read without having read the previous one. SHOW ME A SIGN is about a man who kidnaps a Deaf girl, Mary Lambert, from Martha's vineyard in the early nineteenth century, and does experiments on her.

In SET ME FREE, Mary is still in the process of recovering from her ordeal. She wants to be a teacher, even though she is Deaf, and her teacher she had in school helps her. She lives on Martha's Vineyard in a deaf community. Lots of Deaf people were born on Martha's Vineyard, and an explanation why this occurs is not known. Mary receives a letter from her friend Nora, who is living in a house in Waltham as a maid, and Nora tells her that a young girl who is considered a savage lives in the house.

Nora thinks that the girl is deaf, and Mary could be her teacher. Mary gains employment, and she travels to the house. The girl is chained to a bed, and the servants treat her like an animal; she lives in her filth, and does not know how to communicate with anyone other than grunting. Mary becomes frustrated, but she tries to help the girl, and to teach her to use sign language. The household participates in the girl's captivity.

When Ms. Hen read this, she immediately thought of the story of Helen Keller, THE MIRACLE WORKER, and how her teacher had to tame Helen when she was young in order to teach her. This book was inspired by that. Ms. Hen also was reminded of JANE EYRE, with the madwoman locked in the attic. This novel is like a combination of those two novels.

Ms. Hen isn't sure if she liked this novel. She understand that it's a children's book, even though adult problems are discussed. She thinks the voice of the narrative might be stilted, and she imagines it might be because the author was trying to write in the style of the early nineteenth century, but she also imagines that a Deaf author has a difficult time finding musicality in language. Ms. Hen likes to listen to the music in words, and she believes that a Deaf author might have a hard time with that. She doesn't think there's anything wrong with writing as a Deaf person, but Ms. Hen was cognizant of this as she read.

Ms. Hen doesn't think this novel is bad, but it's not the best book she has read lately. She did find the story interesting, and she read it fast. She doesn't think she'll read the first book, but she knows it's out there somewhere. Ms. Hen thinks that some people would love this book, but she's not the one.