Genre: Narrative Nonfiction; Historical

Kate Moore’s The Woman They Could Not Silence is a powerful reminder of how little agency women used to have over their lives. Elizabeth Packard is wrongfully committed to an insane asylum on the word of her husband. She is wrenched away from her home and her children. While she initially has some freedoms in the asylum, she fights for her release so passionately that she is ultimately moved to a ward for much more “difficult” women. Even there she works nearly tirelessly to restore dignity to the women with whom she is confined. While her story ends with her release, and she is able to tell her story freely, the loss is extensive. Her story is important and powerful and compelling.

Narrative nonfiction is a powerful education tool for a reader like me. Like with her previous Radium Girls, Moore creates an engaging narrative here. I came to care for Elizabeth very quickly and longed for her to find a better and more free life. I found myself on occasion frustrated with the decisions she made that seemed so - foolish to this 21st century woman who was never forced to defend her sanity to a hateful husband and delusional doctor. The layers here are endless. I am always surprised by the lack of rights held by women at the time. I am always, then, appalled. I am glad we have progressed. I am then also worried that we seem to have moved little in the right direction in terms of mental health care. We don’t have enough professionals. We don’t have enough places. We don’t have access. Misperceptions abound. The religious overtones are disturbing and scary. The ties between religion, misogyny, and mental illness are stunning.

And again, I am left grateful for the strength of the women who fought for the rights that I am often in danger of taking for granted. And again, I am uncomfortable with the directions we are heading right now both with women’s rights and with the treatment of the mentally ill. Reading matters. Understanding history matters. I suppose that if you’re reading something like this then I am preaching to the choir. I am grateful for authors like Kate Moore and books like The Woman They Could Not Silence for their work. She is a woman who, it seems, is still fighting.