Another shining expose by Kate Moore, whose non-fiction humanizes each topic she addresses. I felt equal parts joy for Moore’s writing and horror at the subject matter. Moore is quickly becoming a dominant force in this writing space. After The Radium Girls, I wondered how Moore could possibly hit so profoundly and impactfully again. Well, I’ve got my answer - it’s The Woman They Could Not Silence. Highly recommended for library collections, book clubs, and high school curricula.

I found the story of Elizabwth Packard to be truly horrifying, uplifting, and impacted. In the 1800's, her husband had her committed into a mental asylum for her outspoken faith. While there, Elizabeth served the other patients with such compassion and dignity. After her release she fought and won and helped to have over 24 bills passed in favor of women's rights and those of the mentally ill. A fabulous read.

In 1860 a woman had no rights. Her life was dictated by her father, then husband or another male in the family. Elizabeth Packard was a devout woman, loving mother of six children and the wife of a preacher. She was not meek and shared her views with the congregation and her husband. Because her voice would not be silenced her husband had her committed to an asylum. She had no contact with the outside world and more importantly, her children. Even though Elizabeth began her stay at the Jacksonville asylum on a ward that was quiet and offered a bit more freedom, her cries of protest got her sent to the truly dangerous ward that was barbaric and made her situation even more unjust. Foraging for scraps of paper and pencil nubs she was able to keep a secret diary which later gave her the means for several books and papers. A gifted writer and speaker, when she eventually gained her freedom she was able to support herself and her children which felt like the final "take that" moment. A staunch supporter of women's rights she won legislation to force the courts to hold a trial before anyone was committed which slowed down the process by which so many healthy sane women were being unjustly held. The account is harrowing, the description of the "cures" used in these asylums is barbaric and the telling of Elizabeth Packard's story is riveting. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

The Woman they Could Not Silence is Kate Moore’s latest history book, once again set in Illinois. This time, her focus is on the remarkable Elizabeth Packard. Mrs. Packard is a young mother whose husband, Theophilus disagrees with her outspoken thoughts regarding religion and politics. As a result, he admits her as “insane” to the Jacksonville Asylum. Elizabeth Packard spends the next several years fighting for the rights of married women who lose their liberty at the behest of their husbands, while remaining unequivocally sane. Kate Moore’s book is an engaging and excellent read full of facts and Elizabeth’s own direct quotes from her journals and publications. Every women should read this as a testament to those that have come before us and fought viciously for our independence from the restrictions married women have had to abide by.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, what a book! I've been on a Victorian-era asylum book kick and was eager to learn more about the astonishing Elizabeth Packard. Truly amazing that one woman in Victorian times was able to change the world by her steadfast determination and intelligence. No matter what, giving up was NOT an option. As the author says, the book is about fighting back.

In 1860 America, Elizabeth had been married to a solemn and cruel husband for twenty one years and had nowhere to go and no male to turn to (necessary in those times). She deigned to speak her mind and express views, especially about religion. Theophilus couldn't stand anyone oppose him, especially her, so forced her into the Illinois State Hospital, an asylum, and as a woman she had absolutely no choice. She lost her six precious children, with whom she was besotted. She was held against her will but kept in her emotions as she did not want to give the impression of insanity. She encouraged every other inmate she could and reminded them to fight back. Most were imprisoned as they were merely inconveniences to their husbands. But what went on in asylums is horrendous. Parts of this book include details of dreadful treatment and torture. It is no wonder many broke down while there. Elizabeth meticulously documented everything against all odds, sometimes even without paper! Her perseverance is incomprehensible and admirable. I have the utmost respect for her and what she did and how she did it.

Dr. Andrew McFarland, the director, was, at first, Elizabeth's confidante at the asylum. They had intelligent conversations. But that changed. The author details Elizabeth's life before, during and after imprisonment including writing a book about asylum life and advocacy for women and women's rights. Included are photographs and even a list of reasons for incarceration which is basically living normally. Psychiatrists weren't trained. The rules were so terrible they were bound to make any person insane. Just expressing a desire to leave was viewed as insanity. Women were imprisoned as they were hormonal, emotional and threatening to men. Inside many women worked. As a seamstress, Elizabeth was able to sew. That is, before she was moved to another ward for stirring up dissent. She realized, "being sane, I can't be cured". She was desperate for freedom and children but would have to submit to her husband. That wasn't in her.

After her release (what a story that was!), her life did not get any easier. She put her all into advocating for women and Packard's law passed! She wrote and wrote and wrote and tirelessly pushed and eventually got the right people on her side.

Wow, reading this was an astounding experience, one every person should have. The research that went into this is just incredible. The more I read the thirstier I became! Kudos to the author.

My sincere thank you to SOURCEBOOKS and NetGalley for the privilege of reading the e-ARC of this fantastic, life enriching book!

“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?”
“I wrote my way out.”
“As long as he can hold a pen, he’s a threat.”
Alexander Hamilton or Elizabeth Packard?
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.
After learning her own powers of thought, writing, and persuasive speaking, Elizabeth Packard was confined by her husband in the Jacksonville Insane Asylum. The injustices, abuses, and flagrant inhumanity she saw and experienced there set her on a path to fight for women’s rights and better treatment of the mentally ill.
I knew nothing about Elizabeth Packard before reading this book. It was a fascinating and compelling read. Highly recommended!

This is such an important book, but it is INFURIATING to read.

As a woman that considers herself a feminist, I am ashamed that I had never heard of Elizabeth Packard. I'm also angry--for some reason, I still know the name of the man who (supposedly) invented the cotton gin, but this absolute warrior of a woman was never once mentioned in any of my history classes. Every school I ever attended gave shoutouts to Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt and called it good for women's history.

But let's be honest--this is a story that the patriarchy would prefer women didn't hear. Elizabeth Packard was committed to an asylum by her husband for speaking out against his religious and political views, but she still managed to 1) get out of the asylum despite his wishes for her to live the rest of her life there, 2) be ruled "sane" by a court when at that time married women (and only married women) were not even entitled to a trial, 3) wrote and published multiple books that allowed her to support herself, her children, and her loser husband, and 4) successfully campaigned for laws to protect both married women and the mentally ill. And she did all of this in a time/place where married women were considered legally insignificant extensions of their husbands, meaning that not only could he easily have her committed to an asylum for pissing him off, but she was not legally entitled to her own property, her financial earnings, or the custody of her children.

This book is about so many things. It's about the history of the treatment of mental health, and of course, women's rights. It's an inspirational story about one particular woman and the effect she had on society. But more than that it is about the capability of women and the changes that they can make, even with everything stacked against them. It's both shocking and at the same time not at all surprising that this story isn't a staple of American History classes.

From the technical side, Kate Moore writes extremely readable nonfiction. I believe that her writing is perfect for people who don't typically like nonfiction--she manages to avoid the dryness that often manages to slip into even the most interesting topics in nonfiction books. My only critique would be that the book is too long. I know from her Q&A that she did cut back significantly from her first draft, but this book needed to be even shorter. It's clear from reading this book that the author was (justifiably) fascinated by this woman and all that she did, but shortening the book would make it even more accessible. I loved this book, but I would still recommend Kate Moore's other nonfiction book, Radium Girls, before this one.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars

*eARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This author has a talent for grabbing events in history that aren’t as well known or publicized and making them more real for us today. This issue is one that is important and Rey interesting (not as morbidly fascinating as Radium Girls, but not much would be too me as that raised the bar pretty high). Still really glad I read it and already fe3commended it to several friends.Full review on goodreads.

This book tells the true story of Elizabeth Packard, a mid-19th century wife and mother who fought for women's rights in America.

Historically, women in the United States had no rights. "Women....were subsumed within the legal identities of their husbands. The husband and wife are one, said the law, and that one is the husband." Thus a husband owned all his wife's possessions, could take custody of the couple's children, and had the power "to deprive [his wife] of her liberty and to administer chastisement."

In June 1860, Illinois resident Elizabeth Packard had been married to her pastor husband Theophilus for twenty-one years. The Packards had six children, who were "the sun, moon, and stars" to Elizabeth, and she spent her days "making their world as wondrous as she could."

Elizabeth's husband Theophilus was of a less gentle nature. He was an autocratic man who had at times confiscated Elizabeth's mail, refused her access to her own money (from her father), and isolated her from her friends. Elizabeth felt "the net [Theophilus] cast about her felt more like a cage than the protection marriage had promised."

Things were about to get much worse though. In the bible class run by Theophilus's Presbyterian church, Elizabeth had expressed views that differed from her husband's. In Theophilus's eyes, this meant his wife was insane, and he determined to have her committed to an asylum.

In 1860 a husband could have his wife committed by merely asserting she was mad and getting medical certificates from two doctors. Theophilus approached two physicians he knew, and they agreed to affirm that Elizabeth had "derangement of mind...upon religious matters." Elizabeth soon found herself in Illinois's Jacksonville Insane Asylum, over two hundred miles from her home in Manteno.

Jacksonville Asylum operated under the supervision of Dr. Andrew McFarland, who answered to a Board of Trustees that rubber-stamped all his decisions. As the saying goes, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely', and McFarland was a dictator who ran the institute more like a prison than a hospital. Moreover, McFarland - who had little training in the field of mental health - couldn't tell an insane person from a bunch of carrots. McFarland allowed perfectly rational women to stagnate in Jacksonville for years on the say-so of their husbands....who often had ulterior motives.

When Elizabeth arrived at Jacksonville Asylum, she found McFarland to be a fine-looking gentleman with a nice manner. Elizabeth thought the doctor would realize how intelligent, well-spoken, and sane she was, and would release her immediately. This didn't happen however, and Elizabeth was incarcerated for years.....during which she sorely missed her beloved children.

McFarland had theories about ingratiating himself with patients for therapeutic purposes, and he got close to Elizabeth to help 'cure' her. As a result, Elizabeth developed a complicated love/hate relationship with the doctor, which is detailed in the book.

While in Jacksonville Asylum, Elizabeth observed the abusive treatment of patients, and met competent women who were incarcerated by scurrilous husbands. Elizabeth recorded her observations in a secret journal, and wrote a book while in Jacksonville. All of these proved useful later on.

Once Elizabeth was released from the asylum, she published her writings, and campaigned day and night to change America's laws. Elizabeth wanted to secure equal rights for women and get asylum reform....and a nice bonus would be to get McFarland fired. Elizabeth went door to door; spoke to legislators; implored governors; attended court; testified before the Jacksonville Board of Trustees; and more.

Of course Dr. McFarland, Theophilus, supervisors of asylums, profiteers associated with mental hospitals, and newspapers (run by men) fought Elizabeth tooth and nail, and the suspense of the book lies in 'who would win?'

The story is interesting, and the topic is VERY important, but the narrative is much too detailed and over-long. Kate Moore did extensive research for the book, and she includes too much of it in the narrative. Trial transcripts, witness testimony, and the like could have been summarized with no loss of impact.

Still, Elizabeth Packard was a force majeure for women's rights, and her contribution was almost forgotten until Kate Moore unearthed it. Thus, this is a very important book, highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kate Moore, and Sourcebooks for a copy of the book.

Elizabeth Packard. What an awesome woman. I am so glad I strayed outside my reading comfort zone to pick up this ultimately triumphant story of someone I had never even heard of, but who's persecution and tenacity, intelligence and kindness, have not only paved the way for modern women but blasted through the bedrock of institutionalised paternalism to lay the road itself. I turned each page wondering 'how could they?'. How is she going to get through this? Who could bear this, stay true to herself and continue to care so deeply for others despite the personal cost. And ...What an awesome writer. Kate Moore, I am so glad you took the time and huge effort to tell us Elizabeth's story so compellingly. I couldn't put it down.

Good story of strength and learning. I enjoyed reading it! Thank you Net Galley for the copy in exchange for my honest review!

“Devalue the words of women and half the battle is won.”
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I started reading about Elizabeth Packard and looked a the cover again to make sure it was really nonfiction.

In 1860, Elizabeth, the mother of six children, was taken by her husband to the Illinois State Hospital. He was tired of her independent thought and her religious beliefs differing from his, so he had her committed to an insane asylum. Other reasons a woman might be considered mentally ill were too much time spent reading novels and irregular menstrual cycles.
Elizabeth was brilliant and kind and won over not only most of the other patients, but many members of the staff as welll. This gave her the opportunity to get paper and journal her experience. The director at the facility was kind for a time, but grew tired of her and made life hell.
Eventually free, she became a voice for the voiceless, campaigning for change in the way mental health facilities operated, and constantly striving for the equal treatment of women.
Elizabeth’s story was so fascinating. It’s something that I’ve always thought about, how a person who has had a miserable or tragic experience can rise above and elicit great change. Elizabeth certainly made her mark and this gripping book truly honored her life’s work.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What I liked:

This book follows a woman I'd never heard of before seeing this story, Elizabeth Packard. Her story has a lot of twists and she really never gives up. But that's not all there is to like about this story. Because the book focuses so intimately on one person and those around her, we get a very detailed look at all the characters, and Moore doesn't disappoint on providing a clear picture of those involved.

What I didn't like:

There were some pacing issues in the story. I'm not sure if it wouldn't have benefitted from being just a bit shorter.

Overall:

I'll be honest, I wanted to read this book because I'd read Radium Girls also by Kate Moore and loved it. This book is not that book, and I don't think it's quite as good as that book. However, it's a totally different type of story and the quality of writing you'd expect if you're a Radium Girls fan does hold up here.

Fascinating biography of one woman's experiances in an asylum during the 1860s. Committed there by her husband, mostly for believing she had free will and for differing with his theological ideas, Elizabeth Packard believes her time there will be short and she will return to her life and six children. When her efforts to convince the Warden and the Trustees to release her fail, she is "demoted" from one ward to the next, seeing deeper into the care (or lack there of) received by women who truely do suffer from mental illness. Author Kate Moore relies on journals, letters and transcripts to reconstruct the thoughts and acts of the main players, and relates a gripping tale which is a fast read. Highly recommend.

“Can [a woman] not even think her own thoughts, and speak her own words, unless her thoughts and expressions harmonize with those of her husband?”

Taking inspiration from the #MeToo movement, Kate Moore delved into the history of women who, more often than not, have been labelled ‘crazy’ and silenced for speaking the truth. Kate wondered if there was a woman whose perseverance, despite everything that was done to discredit her, prevailed.

She found Elizabeth Packard who, in 1860, was taken against her will to Jacksonville Insane Asylum, two hundred miles from her home, because of her “excessive application of body & mind.” The person who was responsible for this injustice was her husband of 21 years and the father of her six children.

The evidence of her so called insanity?

“I, though a woman, have just as good a right to my opinion, as my husband has to his.”

Elizabeth, after being a dutiful wife, mother and homemaker for almost all of her adult life, heard about the women’s rights movement and gave herself permission to think for herself. She also disagreed with her preacher husband about matters of religion and, with her great intellect and her persuasive arguments, he was afraid of the consequences of her speaking her mind.

This was a time when most states “had no limits on relatives’ “right of disposal” to commit their loved ones”, where an insanity trial had to take place before you were admitted to a state hospital (but not if you were a married woman) and where “married women had no legal identities of their own.”

The thought of me living in 1860 terrifies me. I’m certain I too would have been institutionalised and I don’t know I would have been able to sustain the fortitude that Elizabeth displayed. Don’t think that you wouldn’t have also been at risk of such a fate, as “one common cause of committal to an asylum in Elizabeth’s time was “novel reading.””

In the asylum, Elizabeth met other patients, including other sane women who had been trapped there for years, similarly pathologised for their personality. The asylum served as a “storage unit for unsatisfactory wives”. She also witnessed patients being abused by the staff.

Elizabeth was determined to prove that she was sane and secure her release from the asylum. She also wanted to enact change that would see her new friends also released and to protect the mentally ill from abuse. But what Elizabeth wanted more than anything was to be able to parent her children again.

This is a thoroughly researched and well written account of the life of a woman I’m sad to say I had never heard of before but will certainly not forget.

“So in the end, this is a book about power. Who wields it. Who owns it. And the methods they use.
And above all, it’s about fighting back.”

Content warnings include derogatory terms used to describe mental illness and mention of death by suicide, domestic violence, eating disorders, medical abuse, mental illness, racism, slavery, suicidal ideation and suicide attempt.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.

Interesting and thought-provoking story and history. Appreciated the point of view, and a look at the complex world of both women's rights and mental illness.

Incredibly moving story of Elizabeth Packard and her struggle to free herself from her controlling husband and the insane asylum he had her committed to. Her efforts to prove herself sane and escape the nightmare she finds herself in, simply for speaking her mind and expressing opinions other than her husband’s, is gripping to the end. Highly recommended.

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

I thoroughly enjoyed my advance copy from Net Galley of “The Woman They Could Not Silence” by Kate Moore. If there was ever a topic that riles me more, it would be that of male subjugation of women and this story exposes a time in history whereby a woman’s voice was basically erased once she became the property of a husband. That these men could be so arrogant as to believe that all husbands would have their wife’s best interests at heart and could thereby determine their fate. Contrarily, their own threatened insecurities could easily condemn a woman to false imprisonment in a psychiatric ward. Kate Moore shows us the true grit of a determined Elizabeth Packard who against all odds was able to change the tide for many women. Her manipulative husband, Theophilus, plots and succeeds in having his wife locked up in the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois. The hospital director, a Dr. Andrew McFarland, manages to keep Elizabeth and others isolated from most communication with the outside world. It is a tale most important to learn of not only the squalid conditions and brutal treatment of “patients” kept there, but also of their human rights and dignities that were stripped of them.
It would not have been an easy undertaking for Ms. Moore to weave Elizabeth Packard’s personal writings within a complex unravelling of historical events, but she did so marvelously. For me, it was a page turner and was difficult to put down. Thank you again for having had the opportunity to read this advance copy.

"...Kate Moore’s expert research and impassioned storytelling combine to create an absolutely unputdownable account of Elizabeth’s harrowing experience. Readers will be shocked, horrified, and inspired. A veritable tour de force about how far women’s rights have come and how far we still have to go..." - full review to appear in BookList

THE WOMAN THEY COULD NOT SILENCE
BY KATE MOORE.
PUBLISHED BY SOURCEBOOKS
Though women make up the majority of the population of the world, they do not enjoy the same rights as men.
Going back to the early Roman period, women were passed from the father's control to the husbands' control. They were at the mercy of her husbands' whims. Women in ancient China were considered inferior and had subordinate legal status. In Imperial China, the “ THE THREE OBEDIENCES” promoted daughters to obey their fathers, wives to obey their husbands, and widows to obey their sons.
In the middle ages, the English church and cultures regarded women as weak, irrational, and vulnerable to temptation who constantly needed to be kept in check. In overall Europe during the Middle Ages, women were considered inferior to man in legal status.
So the status in North America in the 19th century was no different. Men made the laws to their advantage. Women could not voice their opinions. The superiority of men was never questioned. Women's chief office is to bear children.
Though it was written in the constitution that freedom of religion was respected, any married woman whose views were not the same as her husbands were called rebellious and termed insanely.
If the husband was fearful of the wife having an opinion that was not his way, they were told that they had a diseased brain, had an attack of derangement, and were now different from her formal conduct. Also, another reason given is “ her lack of interest in her husband”. This was a classic case for insanity and to be sent off to the asylum.
A married woman can hold nothing, as they were nothing and nobody, had no legal identities of her own. They were just a shadow, the silent unseen shadow of her spouse, termed COVERTURE. Also in the 19th century, doctors were certain that the woman's menstrual cycle made them liable to go mad, despite no scientific evidence.
Kate Moore, tells an extraordinary story of Elizabeth Packard, wife of Theophilus Packard,a pastor. They were married 21 years and had 5 children. The age difference between them was 15 years. He sent her off to an asylum in June of 1860 because of her difference of thought and speaking her mind. Theophilus was jealous that she is more popular in the church because of her different thoughts. To Elizabeth god is love, but to Theophilus god was a tyrant who dispensed His mercy sparingly and secretly and that one never knew if one had done enough to be saved. He devises a plan so that Elizabeth can be sent off to an asylum in Jacksonville, Illinois.
She will not go on her own will and was eventually carried to the train station.” It is for your good, I want to save your soul” so said her husband. So Elizabeth was received at the asylum at the request of Theophilus. She fought back, “I have a mind of my own, and I will think and act as I please”. She asked Theophilus for a legal trial and let her see her children. But he refused.
From then on, Elizabeth had to prove that she is sane. She tried to convince the Hospital Superintendent of her sanity. But he was in cahoots with Theophilus. Over 3 years she attempted many discussions but to no avail.
This is the story of her struggle and her vision to show the people the condition of the asylums. She started her fight for women's rights. And to free “sisters “ wrongfully put into asylums. Story of one woman fighting for freedom and the men who tried to make her disappear. She stood steadfast in her beliefs even with all the emotional trauma that she had to endure.
Kate Moore has written a beautiful and extensively researched story about Elizabeth Packard. A story about pain, terror, and heartbreak she had to endure. Though she was facing unimaginable hardships, she remained strong. Her determination and perseverance got her support from the legislature to change laws for equality for women's rights.

It was an absolute astounding and emotional read. Heartbreakingly at times.
I would recommend this book to all who follow the #metoo movement and who want to know of the incredible unacknowledged and unheard of heroes and heroines of the past.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the chance to read the ARC.