A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh

Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she receives a visit from Alexander Graham Bell. Once she believed she was important to Mr Bell.

As one of his deaf students, she was among the first to learn of his dream to transmit a human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now Mr Bell's idea is a reality, and he is beset by problems - and he expects Ellen to use her voice on his behalf. But Ellen has a story of her own: of a man she loved, a language she discovered, and a community Bell betrayed.

It is a story no one around her wants to hear - but there may never be a more important time for her to tell it.