Kate Moore's Remarkable Fight for Freedom

From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of The Radium Girls comes 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.

As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil in the year 1860, Elizabeth Packard, a housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. Her enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room – her husband of 21 years, Theophilus, who feels increasingly threatened by Elizabeth's intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place, and one summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.

The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. However, the most disturbing aspect 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 treatment, but to keep them in line – conveniently labeled "crazy" so their voices are ignored.

No one is willing to fight for their freedom, and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose. She embarks on a courageous fight for her own freedom, and in doing so, she frees millions more.

Best-selling author Kate Moore brings her sparkling narrative voice to The Woman They Could Not Silence, a story of the forgotten woman who courageously fought for her own freedom – and in so doing, led a giant leap forward in human rights. Elizabeth's refusal to be silenced and her ceaseless quest for justice not only challenged the medical science of the day but also showcased the most salutary lesson: sometimes, the greatest heroes we have are those inside ourselves.

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