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lovestodancw_81 's review for:
The Woman They Could Not Silence
by Kate Moore
This is definitely a book I will be thinking about for some time to come.
After reading this book, I was of two minds about Elizabeth Packard. I admired her for the tireless work she performed on the behalf of mental hospital patients (women, in particular) and the rights of women and wives. But I was disappointed by the foolish choices Packard continually made which put her further in harms way.
I understand the depth and degree to which women's choices at the time of Packard's life were taken away from them (if they had ever possessed them in the first place) but it was beyond my comprehension how Packard didn't seem to think about how some of her actions would be interpreted by the society in which she was living, one in which a woman's reputation was easily lost but seldom ever returned to its first impression.
This story shone a light on the living conditions of mental hospitals in 19th century America. I did not understand how different the rights of women and men in these hospitals varied, the social status of married women consigned to these hospitals by their husbands and/or fathers, or the degree to which torture and death were permitted and carried out by hospital administrators and/or staff. This book was equal turns enlightening and enraging.
After reading this book, I was of two minds about Elizabeth Packard. I admired her for the tireless work she performed on the behalf of mental hospital patients (women, in particular) and the rights of women and wives. But I was disappointed by the foolish choices Packard continually made which put her further in harms way.
I understand the depth and degree to which women's choices at the time of Packard's life were taken away from them (if they had ever possessed them in the first place) but it was beyond my comprehension how Packard didn't seem to think about how some of her actions would be interpreted by the society in which she was living, one in which a woman's reputation was easily lost but seldom ever returned to its first impression.
This story shone a light on the living conditions of mental hospitals in 19th century America. I did not understand how different the rights of women and men in these hospitals varied, the social status of married women consigned to these hospitals by their husbands and/or fathers, or the degree to which torture and death were permitted and carried out by hospital administrators and/or staff. This book was equal turns enlightening and enraging.