Review: 'The Woman They Could Not Silence' by Kate Moore

Sometimes, when looking at the way in which women's rights are currently under attack, especially in the US, it is easy to forget how far we have come. Kate Moore's The Woman They Could Not Silence brought the enormous leaps we have made in freeing ourselves, in being seen as fully autonomous human beings, in being able to live freely, into stark relief. Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincerest apologies for the delay in reviewing.

Pub. Date: 22/06/2021
Publisher: Sourcebooks

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, an unputdownable 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.

The Woman They Could Not Silence tells the story of Elizabeth Packard who was committed to an "insane asylum" (as it was called then) by her husband, when she proved to be too intellectually independent for him. Throughout the book, we get a direct insight into Elizabeth's mindset through extensive quoting of her own writings from the time. Moore shows us Elizabeth's fear, her pride, her disbelief that she could be committed when she was completely sane, her horror at how entirely non-existent she was to the law as a wife. Elizabeth fights not just to be released, but to have the laws changed to protect women like herself. Moore does a good job intertwining Elizabeth's tale with those of others, showing the reader just how few avenues women had to advocate for themselves. It is hard to believe that this is only a century and a half ago, and for that it is all the more important that stories like these are told. 

At a certain point, while reading The Woman They Could Not Silence, I understood the difficult balance Moore had to pull off in her book. At times, Elizabeth appears almost naive at times, which emerges from her fervent Christianity as well as her continued high expectations of the men clearly oppressing her. This was what was getting to me, and I only realised it once Moore herself addressed it. Despite Elizabeth's clear belief in female equality, she was still a product of her time and still found herself stuck in a time period where she did not have independent rights. Moore details the relationship between Elizabeth and her doctor very well, the way she considers it a relationship of equals while she is merely some woman with issues to him. It will make you enraged and, from a 21st-centry perspective, it can be too easy to blame Elizabeth for her trust in him. It is an important part of the story, however, and the way Moore explores it, is very interesting.

This was my first time reading Kate Moore, although I had heard a lot of good things already about her book The Radium Girls. From the beginning, through her Preface, it was clear how much Moore cared about the topic of women's rights and about Elizabeth Packard's story. Her extensive research was also evident and throughout The Woman They Could Not Silence she tells a very complete story not just of Elizabeth's experiences, but also the surrounding events, such as the Civil War. The writing is very detailed, so that you can picture Elizabeth's house, the state of the asylum, and her distress. At times the writing was a little too empathic for me, but that might be my own academic background interjecting. As I mentioned above, I sometimes struggled a little with Elizabeth until I came to understand her circumstances and the sheer lack of legal avenues for women. It is one thing knowing that, but it is another thing to see it play out across Elizabeth's life. While we have made enormous advancements in the journey towards equality in front of the law, we should never forget where we started.

I give this book...

4 Universes!

The Woman They Could Not Silence is a powerful and important book, which gives an insight into how powerless women were once they got married less than two centuries ago. While that may feel a long time ago, it is not. Our current freedom was hard-won and we need to make sure we defend them.