What Is Visible A Novel
What Is Visible A Novel by Kimberly Elkins, published by Grand Central Publishing on June 16, 2015, is a reprint edition comprising 336 pages. This literary novel is based on the true story of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind person to learn language, who became a significant figure in the 19th century. The narrative explores her life from losing her senses at a young age to becoming a celebrated individual, capturing the challenges and triumphs of her unique existence.
Readers will find a richly detailed portrayal of Laura Bridgman, narrated from her perspective, alongside a diverse cast of characters including Samuel Gridley Howe and Helen Keller. The book delves into the historical context of Bridgman’s life, reflecting the social and educational transformations of Victorian America. Through its exploration of themes such as communication and resilience, What Is Visible offers insight into a remarkable yet often overlooked figure in history. This edition also includes a Reading Group Guide for further discussion.
Official synopsis Publisher
New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
Bookpage Best Books of 2014
Woman’s Day “Most Inspirational Book of 2014”
Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads Pick for 2014
A vividly original literary novel based on the astounding true-life story of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind person who learned language and blazed a trail for Helen Keller.
At age two, Laura Bridgman lost four of her five senses to scarlet fever. At age seven, she was taken to Perkins Institute in Boston to determine if a child so terribly afflicted could be taught. At age twelve, Charles Dickens declared her his prime interest for visiting America. And by age twenty, she was considered the nineteenth century’s second most famous woman, having mastered language and charmed the world with her brilliance. Not since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has a book proven so profoundly moving in illuminating the challenges of living in a completely unique inner world.
With Laura-by turns mischievous, temperamental, and witty-as the book’s primary narrator, the fascinating kaleidoscope of characters includes the founder of Perkins Institute, Samuel Gridley Howe, with whom she was in love; his wife, the glamorous Julia Ward Howe, a renowned writer, abolitionist, and suffragist; Laura’s beloved teacher, who married a missionary and died insane from syphilis; an Irish orphan with whom Laura had a tumultuous affair; Annie Sullivan; and even the young Helen Keller.
Deeply enthralling and rich with lyricism, WHAT IS VISIBLE chronicles the breathtaking experiment that Laura Bridgman embodied and its links to the great social, philosophical, theological, and educational changes rocking Victorian America. Given Laura’s worldwide fame in the nineteenth century, it is astonishing that she has been virtually erased from history. WHAT IS VISIBLE will set the record straight. *Includes Reading Group Guide*
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