Insightful
This story is set in south-eastern Ontario during World War 1 and before. It begins with the sudden deafening of a five year old girl and chronicles the process of learning to communicate. She is taught by her grandmother to speak audibly. She also goes to a school for the deaf to learn sign language and to get an education. While there, she meets her future husband, Jim (whom she calls Chim), who can hear.
They marry and he is sent off to be an ambulance attendant / litter carrier in the war. They correspond over that time. It also follows the course of the war and the things he experienced.
It is a little slow moving at times, but very insightful into the world of the deaf and learning to communicate.