The Woman They Could Not Silence

From the New York Times,USA Todayand Wall Street Journalbestselling author of The Radium Girlscomes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women’s rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today. 1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boilElizabeth Packardhousewife and mother of sixis facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened–by Elizabeth’s intellectindependenceand unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morninghe has her committed to an insane asylum. The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in JacksonvilleIllinoisare overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarlanda man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they’ve been committed not because they need medical treatmentbut to keep them in line–conveniently labeled \