Madame Restell

I really enjoyed this read. It had a little bit of everything for history buffs: biography, historical information to give the reader some background, and even a bit of the author's person story. I thought the narrator was great - she did different voices and accents for each character to make it clear when they were talking versus just background information, and she made it sound more like a podcast than a book about the history of birth control. I know some people had an issue about how the author used Madame Restell more as a jumping off point to write about birth control and access to abortion in the 19th century, but I thought that was a clever move. Madame Restell is such an interesting and divisive character, and using her story helped frame the country's attitude of abortion against the reality of the situation. I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed books like Radium Girls. Be prepared though, it's a long read - it was about 13 hours.

Thank you to Hachette Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audio ARC!

I enjoyed Jennifer Wright's compelling, well-researched biography of the notorious -- and misunderstood -- 19th century abortionist Madame Restell. Wright skilfully blends historical context with fast-paced, yet richly detailed biography. Primary sources such as the contemporary New York Sun and Herald newspapers make it clear that early and mid-19th century newspapers set precedents for internet-era misinformation, exaggeration, and caustically worded commentary about women that dared to live as public figures. The ire was sharpened by Restell's business success.

Once a British immigrant, as Anne later became Madame Restell she made use of American notions of class, exoticism, and respectability (though Restell was no churchgoer, she kept a large Bible in the parlor of her headquarters because women seeking abortions could find ease in its pages while waiting). Madame Restell had a loyal husband, a strong personal network, and unflappable poise. Newspaper accounts often took on an outraged tone as they described how she appeared tastefully dressed at court dates. Not even a jail term at the notorious Blackwell Island could crack her sangfroid; Restell's growing wealth and political connections meant that she was the only prisoner receiving regular visits from her husband and deliveries of fresh peaches to her well-furnished cell.

The period leading up to the Gilded Age was full of eccentric, opinionated public figures; Wright includes several that are relevant to the intense public discussions of abortion and women’s identity as sexual or legal beings. When Restell’s fortune falters, she is shaken, but remains true to herself. Wright’s excellent book brings life to a complex historical figure. Heroine, villanness, or both by turns? Plunge into this absorbing work and decide for yourself.

As a Reference Librarian, I recommend Madame Restell to readers interested in popular history; undergraduate faculty in search of engaging reading assignments; people interested in the history of women’s reproductive rights, social sciences; and fiction readers seeking grounded context for the historical fiction they are reading. In recent years, some authors of romance genre fiction have written novels set during New York’s Gilded Age; the wonderful romance author, Joanna Shupe has published a vivid, well-researched, and enjoyable series, so I recommend Madame Restell to Shupe readers. I also recommend this book to fans of the also marvelous Maya Rodale.

There's like a three star rating on this book already, and it boggles my mind because I can't see how this book could be anything less than five stars. It's perfect. You can tell from the writings that Madame Restell was an extraordinary woman. The book talks about so much more than just abortions, delving into immigration, women's rights, feminism, and the utter audacity of men's habits of gaslighting and manipulating women in the mid-1800s just to remain in power. My favorite quote came towards the end of the book: "Americans are entering a new age of comstockery where, if women do not want to be mothers, they will be made to be." The perfect place for that quote was at the end of the book after you've read about how much crap women had to put up with and continue to have to put up with today.

Jennifer Wright's Madame Restell is a compelling tale of abortion rights in nineteenth-century United States and the infamous woman at the center of the controversy. She explores the women who offered vital services, the men who tried to stop them, and the ethical underpinnings of medical care. Restell is at once an ordinary figure – one of many women who not only provided abortions, but publicly advertised them – and a unique one with odd flairs and a large personality. The most surprising part of the book is Wright's exploration of Madame Restell's death. I won't elaborate, but it takes some wild turns.

Wright doesn't hesitate to inject her personal opinions about reproductive rights. This didn't bother me at all (in part because I agree); in fact, the conclusion was one of my favorite parts of the book, as it shows how deeply Wright cares about her subject due to her own experience with motherhood.

4/5: A solid biography of a formidable woman that grows into something more, becoming a treatise on women and their place in American medical history. Wonderfully narrated by Mara Wilson; I highly recommend the audiobook version.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did not expect to laugh to myself as often as I did while listening to this. Told with heart and humor, Wright paints a very clear picture of the transition from abortions being common place to their current place as a cultural and religious lightening rod. The woman of Madame Restell is made out to be a full person, neither a sinner nor a saint, but fully a woman who will work incredibly diligently to achieve her goals.