The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - An exhaustive study of Elizabeth Ware Packer, a woman unjustly imprisoned in an insane asylum during the Civil War in America, based only on her husband's testimony and the superintendent's collusion. Initially she is treated well, given her own room and special privileges, but as she gains support from both staff and patients, the superintendent has her moved to a ward where the most demented and violent inmates are held. She maintains her faith and works tirelessly to prove her sanity and improve conditions, and eventually she is released. She will spend more than 30 years of her life fighting for and achieving reforms for both married women and the mentally ill, in some forty-four states.
This is a hefty book, of almost 600 pages, extensively researched, but the writing is interesting. Conversations are recreated from letters, journals and other documents, and the book includes a group reading guide to facilitate further discussion.

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