Scan barcode
A review by keimre734
The Woman They Could Not Silence: The Timeless Story of an Outspoken Woman and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
5.0
“1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened - by Elizabeth's intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.
The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they've been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line - conveniently labeled "crazy" so their voices are ignored.
No one is willing to fight for their freedom and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose...” Excerpt from the back of my copy of The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear.
I received a free Advanced Reader’s Edition of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this book! Kate Moore clearly did an exorbitant amount of research to be about to write this book. Moore does an excellent job of telling Elizabeth Packard’s story and making the reader really connect with her. As a woman myself and as a US citizen who lives in Illinois, I can’t help but feel heartbroken by Packard’s life story and everything she went through. I look forward to reading more of Moore’s books in the future!
I received a free Advanced Reader’s Edition of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this book! Kate Moore clearly did an exorbitant amount of research to be about to write this book. Moore does an excellent job of telling Elizabeth Packard’s story and making the reader really connect with her. As a woman myself and as a US citizen who lives in Illinois, I can’t help but feel heartbroken by Packard’s life story and everything she went through. I look forward to reading more of Moore’s books in the future!