The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan
Published by Simon & Schuster

Isolated from her friends and family, Marnie is brought to a seaside village by her new husband.   As this is set in medieval times, the local villagers are suspicious of anything new, especially Marnie when her husband suddenly dies.   Her only friend is Raver, the village lunatic, who Marnie discovers is not mad but deaf.   She creates a basic sign language to 'talk' to him and when the villagers see Raver communicating calmly to her hand signals, they try her for witchcraft.   This is a beautiful, moving story that could be set in any time period, which is about two individuals - Marnie and Raver - who are singled out just because they are different.