In this winding novel, Jane Loeb Rubin creates a suspenseful narrative around the history of women's reproductive rights and modern medicine. In the Hands of Women follows Hannah Isaacson as she trains to be an obstetrician in turn-of-the-century New York City. The novel follows her through residency and into her practice, where she repeatedly runs into roadblocks when it comes to family planning and simple female health care.

Overall, this is a strong novel that conveys some important points about women's medical history that resonate today. There are points where the writing is rather heavy handed, and points where the reader may find the protagonist rather frustrating in her naivety. Regardless, for the historical aspect alone, I would say this book is worth a read.

I really wanted to love this book. As a female physician and lover of historical fiction, this has all the components of a great book. For me, this missed the mark. Having recently read fiction written in the same era, this book was not historically accurate from a social standpoint. It is completely not believable that in the 1900s men would be punished for sexual assault, especially in an elite educational setting.

Here's a glimpse of a slice of life in the early 1900s when immigrants flooded New York City and women had no control over government decisions nor their own bodies. After suffering one hurdle after another, Hannah gives all to help the women of NYC--even those fresh off the boat from Ellis Island.

This book has well researched facts and is an eye opener about the conditions of poor immigrants and prisoners in NYC, though the writing was not as engaging as I had hoped. That said, it's a worthwhile read if you're interested in healthcare and rights for women.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A well plotted and well researched story but i found it more historical fiction than historical mystery
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

“In the Hands of Women” is like Call the Midwife in book format with a direct POV of the doctors. I do wish it had been a bit more fast paced as in places it felt like the story was dragging. But if you can make it to part 3, you’re in for the long haul.
*Trigger warning for attempted assault*
It felt like this scene was somewhat unnecessary and making the trauma of women a commodity.

Definitely not as suspenseful as I thought it was going to be. It ran more along the lines of doing a great job of making me sad about what we as women have to endure.

Dnf at 35%

I was very excited for this book. An interesting and important topic, the historical setting was just a bonus.

Unfortunately this “suspenseful novel” is incredibly boring and instead of suspenseful mostly just depressing. I understand the need to include misery and suffering to make the book historically accurate, but there’s nothing else and the story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

The writing didn’t work for me either, there were too many irrelevant and distracting details that slowed down the story. It all felt too flat to hold my interest.

Thank you Level Best Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jane Loeb Rubin is an artist in dicribing the lives of women in difficult times, with the first women who were allowed to practice as a doctor and study medicine and not just being nurses. The connection between women in need and talented women in the medicine field is very well written. Thank you for this beautiful and compelling title.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you netgalley.com and Level Best Books. Publication Date: May 23, 2023.

I appear to be an outlier in my response to IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN by Jane Loeb Rubin. Most readers seem to be giving it four and five stars. I'd rate it 3.5 stars, a bit better than just OK.

Here's why. It has a gripping story -- a creative account of one of the first women allowed to attend the Johns Hopkins Medical School. (Women were first admitted in 1893.) Hannah Isaacson then practices obstetrics in New York City during a period of intense drama. Men in power, especially those with money, control nearly all aspects of society, including the lives of their own wives. Immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe, are pouring into a city unable to keep up with their need for decent housing, food, and medical care. Women are prevented by the Comstock Laws from accessing even the most rudimentary information about the workings of their own bodies.

Rubin's writing style is simple and straightforward. The drama was certainly enough to keep me turning pages -- it's definitely a plot-driven book. But I kept feeling the author didn't know quite which story she wanted to tell. Is it about a smart, resourceful doctor bucking the system to improve healthcare? Or a city grappling with too many immigrants? About the horrific conditions in prisons and workhouses? Illegal abortions provided by untrained midwives? About pioneering women like Margaret Sanger and others advocating for birth control access? Perhaps antisemitism in the 1900s? Or mysogyny in the medical field? Jane Loeb Rubin seems to have included a little bit of every social issue happening at this time. Including information about the responsibilities of rabbis and the food you might expect at a Sabbath dinner.

In truth, IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN is about all these things, depending on where you are in the story. All are interesting elements. I just didn't find the novel very cohesive. It felt more episodic, almost like reading related short stories. The result was I didn't find myself feeling very emotionally involved with any of the characters, though I did want to know how the story would turn out.

So, overall, a good story about strong, capable women and an interesting glimpse into early 20th century urban America. I'd recommend the book to those with a particular interest in women's medical care.

What I thought was going to be an unrealistic women's lib story turned out pretty good. Hits home on several tough subjects of discrimination. Good read.

This was a gripping socio-economic historical fiction novel set in the turn of the century. The Suffrage movement is taking off and Dr Hannah Isaacson is making moves as one of the only doctors at John Hopkins hospital. On finishing her residency she covets a post in her hometown of New York. Dealing with a lack of knowledge of women’s healthcare, backstreet abortions and all of the decisions made by men she soon finds herself in a position whereby she can influence and educate. This doesn’t come without it’s sacrifices however and she soon finds herself fighting for her freedom. This book focuses on inequality, poverty, child loss, and the importance of standing up for what is right. I found this book was well written and could tell the author had a passion for what the subject matter covered and that the book had been well researched.

Loosely based on the author 's relatives, this novel is interesting as to the social position of women and society in the USA at the beginning of the twentieth century. I really enjoyed reading about obstetrics at the time, focusing on the young mothers' social situation... However I found the characterization rather poor, the characters not finely cut, quite predictable in their development. This novel remains though interesting.
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.

This was my first historical fiction read ever and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I didn’t want to put it down and wanted to read it every chance I could! The author did a great job of transporting you back in time for this story! Thank you to Netgalley and Level Best Books for the digital review copy.

I don’t tend to gravitate towards historical fiction but this had all the trappings to grab my attention. Hannah Isaacson was born to overcome the the societal limitations placed on her come hell or high water. But Hannah is only human and she can’t do it alone. She is surrounded by a community of women who champion for not only her but all women, especially those from more unfortunate circumstances. Hannah faces numerous setbacks along her journey but through each she perseveres.

A strong female main character surrounded by other strong women, a focus on women’s rights, and perseverance through dark times makes this book a phenomenal read. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was cheering Hannah on the whole way.

I enjoyed this book. The plot is fascinating and the characters are well developed. I thought that the book painted a vivid picture of turn-of-the century New York life and medicine. The book was well paced after getting off to a slow start. I also thought that the narrative was a little choppy. Overall, this was a good read. Thank you to Netgalley and Level Best Books for the digital review copy.

I love books that retell key pieces of history through a rarely seen perspective-- and this book does a great job of portraying amazing and engaging women in 1900.I have a background working in women's health, and really enjoyed learning about this time period through a more atypical light. The writing was a little clunky in places, but overall good read.

I was excited to read this book. I find books on the historical status of women, and especially women's health to be an area of great interest for me, especially as I work in a healthcare setting and am aware of the issues that still affect women today in this area. I have read quite a few books, both historical and modern on this subject in the last few years and I was happy to see this book was available to read and hoped it would complement what I have been finding through my previous readings.
The setting and topic were interesting, and I found the characters to be sympathetic and interesting, however, I found the writing to be a bit stilted and to not flow as well as I would have expected. I think some additional editing might have helped with some of this.
I also found the historical elements seemed to be under-researched and relied a lot on the stereotypes of the day rather than research that would have provided a better-rounded story.
Overall I enjoyed this work of historical fiction, however I would say it falls more in the fiction category than the historical category.

There was a lot I really liked about In the Hands of Women. The pace was quick, the story was engaging, and I cared about what happened to the characters. However, the writing at times was rather awkward--in particular, the dialogue was clunky and not very natural. The portrayal of turn of the 20th century America also felt a bit thin. Even though Rubin lists a number of books in the acknowledgements, the portrayal of the time period felt more like a pop culture understanding of history than a well-researched piece of historical fiction. That being said, it was an enjoyable read, and you would probably especially like it if you care more about the "fiction" part than the "historical" part of historical fiction.

In the Hands of Women has a great premise and engaging characters, but the research and writing style didn't quite do it for me.

Hannah Isaacson is a Jewish doctor in Baltimore and New York City in the early 1900s. She makes her way through medical school being constantly underestimated, undermined, and pushed out by her peers and colleagues. Despite these struggles, she becomes an obstetrician, at the time a very new medical speciality, and moves home to New York to practice.
As a background for my review, I have a pretty solid knowledge of the late 1800s/early 1900s culture in North America, both through coursework at school and volunteering at Living History museums in this time frame. In particular, I've studied a lot of early medical history from this time, so I was very excited to read this book! However, the premise did not live up to my hopes.

Rubin's writing style felt very clunky to me, in particular, the dialogue; I found it difficult to see real people speaking this way in any time period. As well, there were numerous medical and cultural inaccuracies that took me out of the story (I'm looking at you, comments about corsets being bad!).

Most of the novel felt like stereotypes of the time period: The sexist older doctor, controlling fiance, almost every upper-class character, the evil prison warden, etc. While I'm sure there were people in every time period that fit these tropes, having almost every character feel stereotypical seemed unnecessary and again took me out of the story. I'm not sure how to word this concisely, but it felt more like I was reading a book than seeing a story laid out before me. While yes, I know I was reading a book, I prefer stories that flow so well I almost forget that fact and just feel wrapped up in their fictional world.

Overall, In the Hands of Women isn't a bad book by any means, I think I just had a bit too much background knowledge to fully appreciate the story. If you're looking for a book about a strong Jewish woman who overcomes some horrible adversities and still manages to help others every step of the way, I highly recommend you give this a try!

Rubin has created a marvelous character--Hannah Isaacson, a physician learning and practicing in the early years of the 20th century. Hannah encounters the usual discrimination against women and Jews, while devising ingenious ways to counter and outwit her antagonists. Readers will learn about the history of medicine and reproductive health, while rooting for Hannah. I highly recommend Rubin's superb novel.