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Alexa's Reviews > The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
by
by
Wowee! I adored this. A little known area of history (or figure of it, at least) that I think everyone should know. I was absolutely hooked. Where is my movie adaptation?! Paging Focus Features!
Of course, I came to this book because of Radium Girls--which I read earlier in June and Amazon recommended this to me as soon as I finished. Kate Moore is such a brilliant narrative non-fiction writer--she really makes real people characters in their story, walks you through everything with so much tension and stakes, without having to embellish history. I'm in awe of her research and notation skills.
Seriously: even if you're not really a non-fiction/history reader, but you're interested in women's rights and a chapter of American history that runs parallel to the Civil War (Elizabeth was committed in 1860), read this. It reads like fiction but IT'S ALL TRUE.
What I found especially chilling, and I know it's why Moore chose this subject, is how reading it I was struck by how absolutely screwed I would have been had I been born/lived in this time period. I would 100% have been locked up in asylum--I am a LOT like Elizabeth (save the religious fervor lol), and several of the other women profiled. Talkative. Opinionated. Smart. Your husband could literally commit you FOR LIFE for those things. But I don't know if I would have had Elizabeth's strength and fortitude.
I won't spoil all the twists and turns--though it is history--because I went in knowing very little, and I think it benefits the reading experience. But this book has everything! A strong heroine at its center. A villainous husband. An asylum doctor with two faces. Romance... kind of! (but not really) Exposing abuse. Shedding a chilling light on both how far we have come and how far we have NOT come in 150 years. I thought about Britney Spears once or twice while reading--how easy it is to call a person (especially a woman) "crazy" and take away her rights.
A must read.
Of course, I came to this book because of Radium Girls--which I read earlier in June and Amazon recommended this to me as soon as I finished. Kate Moore is such a brilliant narrative non-fiction writer--she really makes real people characters in their story, walks you through everything with so much tension and stakes, without having to embellish history. I'm in awe of her research and notation skills.
Seriously: even if you're not really a non-fiction/history reader, but you're interested in women's rights and a chapter of American history that runs parallel to the Civil War (Elizabeth was committed in 1860), read this. It reads like fiction but IT'S ALL TRUE.
What I found especially chilling, and I know it's why Moore chose this subject, is how reading it I was struck by how absolutely screwed I would have been had I been born/lived in this time period. I would 100% have been locked up in asylum--I am a LOT like Elizabeth (save the religious fervor lol), and several of the other women profiled. Talkative. Opinionated. Smart. Your husband could literally commit you FOR LIFE for those things. But I don't know if I would have had Elizabeth's strength and fortitude.
I won't spoil all the twists and turns--though it is history--because I went in knowing very little, and I think it benefits the reading experience. But this book has everything! A strong heroine at its center. A villainous husband. An asylum doctor with two faces. Romance... kind of! (but not really) Exposing abuse. Shedding a chilling light on both how far we have come and how far we have NOT come in 150 years. I thought about Britney Spears once or twice while reading--how easy it is to call a person (especially a woman) "crazy" and take away her rights.
A must read.
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Reading Progress
June 27, 2021
–
Started Reading
June 29, 2021
– Shelved
July 4, 2021
–
Finished Reading
July 6, 2021
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
