The House With All The Lights On

The House with All the Lights On was shortlisted for the 2021 Richell Prize and was described by judges as "beautifully crafted" and written in "adept, precise prose". It is a story of struggle; of lives that were both ordinary and extraordinary.

Full of heart and tenderness, it provides an account of deafness in Australia and the UK, where Jessica's grandparents spent the first 60 years of their lives. She tells her grandparents' experience of growing up in a hearing world- one where sign language was banned for much of the 20th Century. Her quest to better understand them takes her to sign language classes, to the workplaces of research audiologists, and in the final chapters, she is led back to England where she visit their old schools and family landmarks. Throughout this journey, Jessica navigates the throes of grief - both for the loss of her grandfather, who died just before the pandemic, and for the ways her grandparents' deafness has been so terribly misunderstood.

The House with All the Lights On captures the universal experience of the complex navigating familial relationships. It’s a beautiful exploration of Family and identity, of mothers and daughters and more broadly, what it is to be a member of a family with its own unspoken rules, undeclared boundaries, and unique bonds.