A review by sabrina_lindsay
The Woman They Could Not Silence: The Timeless Story of an Outspoken Woman and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Five stars for educating me on this heroic woman, three stars for the dry and laborious delivery, so averaging out at four stars. The first 25% of this book was a pleasant surprise and more interesting than I expected, but the story was too long and too dry to keep me hooked. I started reading it physically, took a giant break and then came back to it on audio, but in my opinion, the book would have benefited from more concise storytelling. (It’s about 550 pages or 15 hours on audio.) That issue aside, you absolutely cannot deny how impressive a woman Elizabeth Packard was. Her thoughts, behavior, and drive for change were honestly something I would expect from someone today, so to know this woman was that far ahead of her time was inspiring to say the least. The absolute courage and tenacity Ms. Packard showed in standing up for what she believed in and enduring what her husband put her through was almost unbelievable. We certainly have our share of problems today, but I’m grateful to those who came before me who worked tirelessly (and at their own expense) to ensure my freedoms. (And bravo to the state of Illinois for renaming the mental health center, which still exists, to remove the monster of a doctor’s name and replacing it with Ms. Packard’s! This happened in 2023 and the book was called out as a driving factor, so kudos to the author as well!)