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challenging
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
A very insightful read about a polarizing historical figure and the society around her. I may have enjoyed the contextual details more than the main narrative sometimes.
Abortion is health care.
Abortion is health care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Abortion, Classism
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma
Was super fascinating, but my checkout expired and I don’t have the ambition to get it back and finish.
dark
funny
informative
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
This was an absolutely incredible read.
Nonfiction is very hit or miss for me but this book checked all my boxes. Not one was the initial premise was interesting -- a female abortion doctor in an extremely misogynistic age that built an empire off of it -- but the writing style was also very engaging while being just as informative. I didn't feel like any part of the story dragged even with all of the information that author managed to convey; many things I'd never known or heard about before in history class or through my own interests.
The story of this woman truly left me in awe. Everything she accomplished, the legacy she left even despite the vitriolic hate she received, all the people she managed to help in her time. The author didn't fall into the pitfall of only showing her virtues and not writing her faults, either, which only made me love her portrayal and her character even more. Give me a real hero who is cruel and hasty and wrong sometimes, someone I can see myself in as another human, rather than some angelic unattainable saint.
The subject matter tying from the 1800s to modern day in a post Roe v. Wade overturning America are definitely chilling and weighty to read, but necessary all the same.
Nonfiction is very hit or miss for me but this book checked all my boxes. Not one was the initial premise was interesting -- a female abortion doctor in an extremely misogynistic age that built an empire off of it -- but the writing style was also very engaging while being just as informative. I didn't feel like any part of the story dragged even with all of the information that author managed to convey; many things I'd never known or heard about before in history class or through my own interests.
The story of this woman truly left me in awe. Everything she accomplished, the legacy she left even despite the vitriolic hate she received, all the people she managed to help in her time. The author didn't fall into the pitfall of only showing her virtues and not writing her faults, either, which only made me love her portrayal and her character even more. Give me a real hero who is cruel and hasty and wrong sometimes, someone I can see myself in as another human, rather than some angelic unattainable saint.
The subject matter tying from the 1800s to modern day in a post Roe v. Wade overturning America are definitely chilling and weighty to read, but necessary all the same.
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Madame Restell is my new hero. Not only because she was a badass who gave no fucks but also because she was so complicated and morally grey a figure, and I so appreciate the author exploring all facets of that fact rather than painting her one dimensionally. The last chapter and the interview with the author at the end were probably my favorite parts though. It really put the whole book in perspective and the impact of it and Restell's history really hit home. I learned so much about women's reproductive lives in the 1800s and the forces that tried to fuck with them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Religious bigotry
informative
medium-paced