'Born to deaf parents, John James ("JJ") has always been more at home in Sign language than in spoken English. Recently divorced, he returns to school to teach Sign. His pupils include animal liberationists Clive Kinnear and Stella Todd, foster-parents to a very unusual daughter who is not deaf, but dumb. It's not long before JJ meets the beautiful, sensitive and highly intelligent 'Eliza', and is drawn into a bizarre chain of events..' (Publication summary)
'Love is blind. True love is silent... When John James (JJ), a lonely, overweight sign language teacher accepts a private tutoring job he discovers his new ‘deaf’ student is not only kind, sensitive and intellectually gifted, but also a mature, female gorilla who will change his life forever. Adapted from Peter Goldsworthy's acclaimed novel.'
Source: Screen Australia funding approvals.
Writing Disability in Australia:
Type of disability | Deafness. |
Type of character | Primary and secondary. |
Point of view | Third person. |
'Australian scientists have led many crucial scientific breakthroughs – from the manufacturing and processing of penicillin, to the first in-vitro fertilisation pregnancy. Yet there is still a need for science to be more widely appreciated in our broader culture.' (Introduction)