The Woman Who Would Not Be Silenced

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I will be recommending The Woman They Could Not Silence for a long time to come. Not only is the writing flawless, but the tale itself is riveting. Thanks to Moore's impeccable research, the reader is immediately caught up in this historical account of Elizabeth Packard's journey from her home with lovely green shutters to an asylum of grated windows. For the offense of thinking.

In the United States in the 20th century, married women had no legal rights to property - including her own body which was the property of her husband. When Elizabeth Packard's intellect put her at odds with her husband's views he threatened to have her put in an asylum for the insane. Only an insane woman would contradict her husband, after all. It was not an unusual occurrence; many husbands and fathers all across the country were committing their wives and daughters for offenses such as "domestic trouble, religious excitement, puerperal (postpartum), spiritualism, hard study," and more.

As terrifying as the situation was, once Elizabeth got a handle on the reality - she was not the only sane woman in the asylum - she began to fight back. She fought for her freedom, she fought for her friends' freedom, she fought for the freedom of women everywhere. Moore's book takes us along on that triumphant and harrowing journey in vivid detail.

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