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The Woman They Could Not Silence

One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

Audiobook
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today.

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 ...

Bestselling author Kate Moore brings her sparkling narrative voice to The Woman They Could Not Silence, a story of the forgotten woman who courageously fought for her own freedom—and in so doing freed millions more. Elizabeth's refusal to be silenced and her ceaseless quest for justice not only challenged the medical science of the day, and led to a giant leap forward in human rights, it also showcased the most salutary lesson: sometimes, the greatest heroes we have are those inside ourselves.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 24, 2021
      Bestseller Moore (The Radium Girls) delivers a riveting chronicle of Elizabeth Packard’s (1816–1897) forced commitment to an Illinois insane asylum and advocacy for women’s equality and the rights of psychiatric patients. Skillfully drawing on Packard’s voluminous writings, Moore describes her subject’s “cheerless” marriage to Presbyterian preacher Theophilus Packard, and the couple’s growing estrangement as Elizabeth, inspired by the nascent women’s rights movement, began to publicly question his theological beliefs. Angered by his wife’s “impassioned eloquence,” Theophilus took advantage of an Illinois law that allowed husbands to have their wives committed without trial. Moore recounts Elizabeth’s shock at discovering that the Jacksonville Insane Asylum “was a storage unit for unsatisfactory wives,” details abuses by hospital attendants and superintendent Andrew McFarland, and delves into the legal and social framework that rendered married women “utterly defenseless.” After thwarting Theophilus’s plans to have her permanently committed, Elizabeth led successful campaigns to overturn coverture laws that denied rights to married women and reform asylums across the country. Moore packs in plenty of drama without sacrificing historical fidelity, and paints Elizabeth’s fierce intelligence and unflagging ambition with vibrant brushstrokes. Readers will be thrilled to discover this undersung early feminist hero. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Author/narrator Kate Moore delivers her stunning biography of Elizabeth Packard (1816-1897). Packard became an advocate for the rights of women and patients unjustly committed to insane asylums. Elizabeth's vindictive husband, a minister, had her forcefully committed because he feared her intelligence, opposed her defense of women's rights, and loathed her deviation from his religious beliefs. In the asylum Elizabeth encountered many other sane women who had been committed by men who found them troublesome. Moore's riveting account of the asylum's disgusting conditions and the staff's brutal treatment of inmates is flawless. Packard's battle with powerful male figures, incendiary writing, and eventual triumph are enthralling. Moore's performance shines a light on Packard, a mother of six, who never stopped fighting against gender-based prejudice. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from September 1, 2021

      Moore (The Radium Girls) delivers an absolutely fantastic narration of her biography of Elizabeth Packard, a 19th-century reformer who deserves to be a household name. In 1860, Packard and her minister husband Theophilus were living with their six children in Illinois when Theophilus had his wife committed to an asylum because her liberal religious and social views clashed with his conservative ones. At the time, male family members, especially husbands, had almost unlimited power to have their female relatives institutionalized for presumed insanity. After being a dutiful wife and mother for more than two decades, Packard was taken to an asylum over 200 miles away from her home and her beloved children, just for disagreeing with her husband. She endured three years of barbaric treatments and horrific living conditions in the asylum before she secured her freedom and dedicated her life to helping "her sisters" by achieving significant legislative wins that strengthened the rights of married women and asylum patients. Moore heavily quotes passages from primary sources like trial transcripts, government reports, and personal letters, but the riveting narrative still flows smoothly--a testament to Moore's skill as an author and a narrator. VERDICT This brilliant story of one woman's amazing perseverance is guaranteed to inspire all those who continue Packard's fight for social reform and true gender equality.--Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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