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gennyaw's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 45%

The beginning was good but it felt repetitive and drawn out towards the middle.

ncurtis6's review

5.0
challenging dark emotional funny informative fast-paced
magicalrealem's profile picture

magicalrealem's review

4.0
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informative inspiring medium-paced
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adventurous informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

First time hearing about Madame Restell and it was worth the read and a reminder of how important it is to live confidently. She was unapologetic, a businesswoman, direct, entrepreneurial, and wildly talented. If "started from the bottom, now we're here" were a person. She learned several trades and surpassed the men she learned them from.

My main issue is that, while this is a biography about a Madame Restell, there wasn't enough mention of how Black and Brown women she helped were affected. There was also a brief mention of Marion Sims and no substantial mention of how he absolutely tortured Black women to learn about gynecology. She also mentioned Margaret Sanger without bringing up her beliefs in eugenics. She gives one line in the epilogue about how Black women have a high mortality rate and that's it.

Madame Restell was eulogized by clergy in the best way:
"The falsehood by which she was made amenable to a law that is universally violated by the medical profession of this city cannot be too strongly condemned... [Madame Restell was] hunted down by miserable subterfuge, by cunning and heatless fabrication, by open and mean lying, and by specious arguments which were craftily devised to work on her better nature." page 274

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