Gina's Reviews > Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist

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.