Excellent book with some very interesting stories on broadmoor, history at its finest and would recommend anyone reads this, either in one sitting or a pick up and dip into when you have some spare minutes.

The history of the treatment of Mental Illness has always fascinated me, particularly the criteria for women to be diagnosed and committed to an asylum. Many times, we hear about women in asylums for reasons such as "hysteria" or "melancholy" so it is interesting to hear more about particular patients, their diagnoses, and their time in Broadmoor.

I appreciate that the author took the time to humanize and not demonize these women. Kim Thomas helped us get to know each individual woman's story, but also what drove them to the crimes causing their stay at Broadmoor. It is interesting to note that things such as "excessive breastfeeding" were considered to have caused mental illness. Today we know this to likely be depression throughout various stages of pregnancy,

Thomas keeps the book interesting with a variety of facts desgined to catch attention. For example, many women in Broadmoor were there for their crimes of murdering their children or spouses. However, if a woman had killed her child, the husbands were rather quick to forgive and get the women home - probably to relieve the burden of having to care for the remaining children on their own! It is so interesting to hear the reasoning behind the goings on as opposed to a bland statement of what happened.

For me, this was an incredibly interesting read and I hope to hear more from Kim Thomas in the future!

This book was well written and very informative. Reading about the lives of the different women in Boardmoor made me want to learn more.

Broadmoor Women is an interesting and I thought quite emotional read, the experiences, struggles and lives of these women are tragic and although in the 1800s have no less of an effect on me than if they were today. This book is well researched. And well written by Kim Thomas. I found this to a thoroughly absorbing insight into the first asylum in the UK for criminals and will appeal to many

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Thomas presents a well-researched and documented in-depth discussion on seven "residents" of Broadmoor. Women have had a rough time throughout much of human history, and we need more books that explore how they came to end up in their situation and what happened there so younger generations can see how far we've come and how far we have yet to go.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the opportunity to read an advanced reading copy.

Broadmoor Women is a succinctly written collection of short biographies of 7 residents of Broadmoor by Kim Thomas. Due out 30th June 2022 from Pen & Sword, it's 240 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a very well researched and meticulously annotated history of some of the women who were committed to the institution for the criminally insane in the middle to late Victorian era (1863 - 1896). It was interesting and more engaging to me because the author chose to concentrate on a more detailed history with a narrower focus (7 particular women) rather than a more general and less detail oriented survey of the hospital. The introduction does give a general overview of the classification and treatment of mental health and illness in those days as well as a short history of Broadmoor but the chief focus is on the biographies.

The biographies of the subjects are full of pathos and it's easy to feel compassion for the women who were often desperate and otherwise powerless.

The writing is accessible and flows well. It's academically competent, but not overwrought or intentionally obfuscated. The chapter notes and bibliography are well worth a perusal and will provide many hours of additional reading.

In many places, I found the reading difficult emotionally and sad. Nobody who was resident at Broadmoor had an easy time of it, and most of these women lived exceedingly difficult lives full of pain and sorrow. The author does a very good job of showing despite vastly different backgrounds, they all came for a time to the same place (over a 30 year period).

Four stars. Fascinating (if somewhat depressing) history.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Really well written and interestingly detailed look into the lives of some of the women that were sent to Broadmoor. It kept me captivated in wanting to learn more about the women and the lives that they lived both before and after their incarceration at the famous asylum

I found Broadmoor Women to be a moving book. The struggles and situations of these women were often tragic and due to the stresses of life in the 1800s.

I enjoyed finding out more about the cases and they had all been professionally researched. The book reminded me of the Five by Hallie Rubenhold with the background's and histories of each of the women explained fully.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pen and Sword for the ARC Copy of the book. My review is my own opinion.

3.5 stars

Looking at the cover of Women of Broadmoor, one might think it's a book of horror about a mental institution that created memories of horrible living, beatings, and unsanitary conditions. That idea would be far from the truth as Broadmoor appeared to be a place of care and concern where women would find peace, and solace from the mental ailments they suffered from.

The women profiled in this book lived during the Victorian age and most came from poor backgrounds, not knowing how to read, and living a life of squalor and despair. However, what seemed to set these women apart was the fact that they killed someone, a child, a husband, a mother. What drove these women to such lengths is explored in the story and the author did extensive research into the thoughts of the time in regards to women.

Many felt the rigors of life, the toil of having one child after another with some of them not surviving infancy, the continual lactation of so many children, and oftentimes the brutality of their husbands drove these women to stages of insanity. Honestly, I was quite surprised that Victorian England seemed to be quite a compassionate place for women of this ilk.

Truly, for many, the life was ever so difficult. There was no birth control, no help from the government and no place for the women to turn to. Many had in upwards of six children and still were expected to continue the care of the home, the cooking, and their husband's attention becoming pregnant immediately after another child was born. They were worn down and many felt that their actions were because of what they faced daily that made them ultimately insane.

Many were sent to Broadmoor which was constructed in 1863 and initially had male patients, later joined by female patients. Broadmoor seemed to have a dedicated staff, a clean environment that was dedicated to making the women feel peaceful and the quietness and cleanliness was often a panacea for what these women had faced. Many of the women were eventually released and the author tries to follow up on them and their families as documentation allowed.

This was an interesting tale, but I would have liked to find out about the women who cared for others for they too, were women of Broadmoor. There was also much made about the family history and the children born to these women. I appreciate the author's research, but really thought we needed more on these women who went to such lengths that life had demanded they do.

Thank you to Kim E. James, Pen and Sword History and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book due out on April 30, 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting account of some of the female inmates at Broadmoor. Well researched and compiled. Recommended.

This book spoke a lot about mental health which I’ve always found a fascinating subject. I found it amazing and an insightful read!

This was very insightful and I think the way it was told was very informative and interesting ~ I would recommend

Broadmoor, Brittan's first asylum for criminal lunatics was founded in 1863. In the first years of it's existence, one in five patients were female. Most had been tried for terrible crimes and sent to Broadmoor after being found not guilty by virtue of insanity. Many had murdered their own children, while others had killed their husbands or other family members.

I do like a true crime book. This one gives us an insight into what it must have been like for people living with mental health issues and what they had to endure. You can tell the author has spent a lot of time researching the topic. The crimes were dreadful but intriguing.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #PenAndSword and the author #KimThomas for my ARC of #BroadmoorWomen in exchange for an honest review.

Broadmoor Women gives us an insight into the first asylum in the UK for the criminally insane. The author gives us a practical background of the institution itself and the relevant social context of the Victorian Era in which Broadmoor was founded. We were then introduced to the personal stories of individual women who were committed to Broadmoor.

I found this book to be an incredibly quick and absorbing read. I've always found history interesting and I love reading about it, but the concept of microhistories is a new one for me. It's great. I feel like you get a more accurate idea of what an individual experience is.

I was hit very hard in this book with the crimes that these women were driven to commit under the guise of "insanity." I feel like the environmental factors of the Victorian Era drove these women to do things that were just so shocking - I would have considered them mentally ill, also! The definition of mental illness and the treatments were vastly different, but I can see the delineation that took place between now and then. I also was forced to examine the social commentary of the day and the risk factors that made people more likely to engage in criminal behavior - an I realized that they are the same as today. Poverty, access to good medical care, access to family planning resources, access to clean water and good food, domestic violence, and poor living and working conditions all made people more likely to engage in violence. I also felt that the approach of the day to treating mental illness was very humane and effective for what was considered insanity. It was both unnerving and a relief that a lot of the problems that society faced back then are the same as we have today. It allowed me to connect more with the individuals that I was fortunate to get to know in the book.

I’ve read books about killers of both sexes who ended up in Broadmoor until they died. This is a detailed book on the lives of women who were sent to the infamous Broadmoor asylum during the Victorian era. There is quite a bit of backstory on the making of the asylum, the types of prisoners that were sent there, and the various heads of Broadmoor during these times. It tells the stories of seven women who were sent there and why. Not a whole lot was understood back then about mental illness, so there was much guesswork especially when it came to women. I started to drift when the book went into detail about the workings of a cotton mill, but thankfully it got back to the women’s stories. A good read for anyone wanting to know more about women in this asylum during this period. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Really enjoyed this book, found it was unique to anything I previously read. This has captured my interest from the beginning and been a book I have struggled to put down.

Interesting. A look into some women who spent time in Broadmoor Asylum (the same place where the Yorkshire Ripper and one of the Kray twins were housed for a time). It's a really good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book seemed like a college history report and it wasn't very well written. I felt it had a lot of direct quotes. But I can tell the author invested a lot of time and energy researching the Broadmoor Women she features in this book.
The history of mental health and asylums is fascinating to me so it wasn't a complete waste of time to read.

Thank you NetGalley, the publishers Pen & Sword and of course the author Kim Thomas for this pre published book; I will add this was free and my comments are mine. Kim tells us this book was based upon her research for her Master's degree in English turning into her first published work, It reads well with a good Broadmoor history, one of three high security psychiatric hospitals in England, originally called Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum in 1863, the first patient was a female admitted or infanticide. Kim shares with us the family and social history of 7 women ranging in age and social background who were admitted to Broadmoor, one misconception is that it is a prison but much work was done to make the surroundings contusive to providing a secure, friendly meaningful environment for both men and women.
Notable patients have been Peter Sutcliffe (Yorkshire Ripper), Roderick Maclean poet who attempted the assassination of Queen Victoria and Christiana Edmunds the Chocolate Cream Poisoner (wonder if there is a book about her ! put me of sweets for life). What I enjoyed about Kim’s book was the ‘investigation’ and research of the real person, not the sensualised modern versions of notorious mentally ill patients, the social back ground and the often challenging living and working conditions women lived in, sup rising the number of these incarcerated women who committed infanticide, society has always seen women as loving of their children and cannot understand the choice? to kill their children. Kim’s book does not offer us a choice in making a decision on why these women chose to kill giving us the facts; surprisingly how many of these women were showing symptoms of physic all illness, as a psychiatric nurse myself I know how physical illness very much affects our mental health. Later stages of STD cause severe MH issues, Kim mentions one poor lady know doubt suffering from Graves disease (immune system disorder) - severed mood swings if left untreated. It is difficult to determine what sort of book Kim's was aiming for, is it for academics (gives good references for quotes and facts), a social discourse on how women were very poorly treated in social and the men who promised to love and support them. One can feel by the end of the book that little was done to support those in Broadmoor other than to try and understand and love them, little is mentioned about therapies and treatments, one very important ‘treatment’ was the sense of community that Broadmoor created with inmates finding peace amongst an often chaotic grinding life outside its walls. Broadmoor is just one asylum that has changed how mental illness has changed over the century and this books gives a brief snap shot of the less notorious, average women locked up and the sometimes shocking societal pressures placed on women. we as viewers often see the notorious Kray Twins (one sent here) and the Yorkshire Murderer as inmates and are horrified but this book shows us a few slides of the normal/ordinary inmates, some lost for life, some making a recovery. At least this book keeps reminding us that how ever unwell you are there can be recovery for your mental health. I would give it a 3 1/2 but rated it 4 stars. I looked at this books through my MH nursing eyes and enjoyed the 7 lives shared, life history can inform who we are and why at times we do what we do, 95% of forensic Broadmoor patients were people with very sad stories of life.

This was the first non-fiction book I ha e read from netgalley and I was disappointed. The book read like a high school student's history report. There were far too many direct quotes from other papers and books on the subject matter. The author even uses quotes to describe basic items such as clogs. It was hard get through the first chapter much less the whole book.