This is an absolutely fascinating account of a 19th C abortionist, which gives the reader a snapshot of mindset and mores of the era, including what it was really like for immigrants arriving in America. Wright does an excellent job of presenting the conflict over women's rights, abortion and sexual freedom at the time without weighing in too heavily on either side - preferring to give her opinion at the end. In such a stringent era where depression, poverty, alcoholism and dissatisfaction were high even in the new world, it's nothing short of amazing that Restell became a self made millionaire. Nor was she a saint supporting the women's lib movement - she was a business woman who occasionally gave into acts of spite and revenge. (Setting out to outbid the Archbishop for land he intended to build a bishop's palace on and instead building herself a house there was a particularly entertaining example.) This was an excellent book, with thorough research and intelligent deductions.

Quite an interesting audiobook with a history of a woman I knew nothing about. Well narrated and learned some new things, reccomend this one.

While it's not surprising, it is disheartening to know that American society is STILL continuing to have the same close minded and uninformed argument over a person's right to an abortion centuries later. Madame Restell is not a name I was familiar with before Wright's novel, but I'm so glad that I read it and now know her story. And also that I now know about miserable person that Anthony Comstock was - may he never find peace.

Wright does an amazing job of making this nonfiction read like a fiction novel. The writing style and information given is engaging and interesting. So much so that I did an internet search for Madame Restell after finishing this book to find out more and to see if I could find any images of her Fifth Ave mansion. This novel may take place during the Gilded Age, but the topic of abortions (and the medical experiences of people with a uterus in general) is still just as relevant in 2023.

Mara Wilson does a great job with the audiobook narration and I like that the audiobook includes an interview between Wilson and the author at the end.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Hachette Books in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, Mara Wilson is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. She does such a good job with this one. Madame Restell is an important part of feminist history that no one talks about so I love that this book exists to give us a history of abortion providers that has been missing from the conversation. Wright’s writing is smart, fresh, and honestly very funny. She doesn’t hold her punches though, so it feels like a balanced history of a controversial figure.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book very much. The narrator has the perfect voice for the content. She reads well in a cadence that is easy to understand.
The book itself is pretty cool. I had never heard of this woman and was so glad to have learned about her. While the surrounding politics of the time were important, I thought the author went off on a few tangents. But overall this told you a lot about this woman and her rise to fame. I was sad about the end of her life. But because she walked, Margaret Sanger could run.
The author does confess some bias as the story is very personal for her. I found this enlightening and rather brave.
Also included in the audio version is a conversation between the narrator and author which was fun.

✨ Review ✨ Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist
By Jennifer Wright and narrated by Mara Wilson

Wright brilliantly details the career of Madame Restell, a preeminent female surgeon and abortionist in the mid-1800s in NYC. For decades, Restell advertised openly, providing both pharmaceutical and surgical abortions, and to the best of our knowledge succeeded with incredible rates at not killing her patients. Her dynamic personal and professional life was fascinating, and I learned so much from this book.

This book so brilliantly follows the repeated rise and fall of public acceptance of abortion in NYC and the broader US throughout much of the 19th century, showing us that as religious thinking rose, repression of care providers like Restell also grew, and vice versa.

This book also explores a variety of digressions about pre-Gilded Age NYC, exploring side characters, as well as topics ranging from medical training to the apartment building Restell creates. While I enjoyed many of these digressions, sometimes these led the book to feel a little out of focus, though overall this didn't prove a problem.

I really enjoyed listening to the book - the narration was superb and I found it easy to follow via audio.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: nonfiction, 19th century US History, women, gender, sexuality, political history
Location: NYC
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you're interested in:
⭕️ 1800s New York City
⭕️ abortion and women's health care topics
⭕️ politics, culture, immigration, and public health
⭕️ the surprising life of a woman who became wealthy by providing abortion services to mid-1800s women of all classes and races.

Thanks to Hachette Audio and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Jennifer Wright did a fantastic job of sharing the fascinating story about the life of Madame Restell as well sharing the historical context for her story. Madame Restell was a fascinating woman. I think there were more tangents and side stories than there really needed to be. Overall the narrator did an ok job, but there wasn't a lot of consistency with the accents she used.

What a fascinating book. It looks at the life of the infamous 19th century abortionist adding in historical context of other figures she interacted with. It's a good example of how history is not a linear march toward progress. Many of the book's themes reflect our own era of misinformation and the criminalization of abortion. It's a good reminder that the past was not so different from the present.

I loved the audio narration from Mara Wilson. I thought it really brought the characters to life.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fascinating and timely read. The books seemed well researched but it also had good plotting and read like fiction in some areas. The narrator was easy to listen to and while I don't know that they added anything to the story, they certainly didn't detracted and I don't imagine many listeners having issues.

Histories and biographies aren’t my go to reading choices, but recently I have been loving them in audiobook form, and Madame Restell was a great listen!

This biography about Madame Restell during the gilded era in New York City, was absolutely fascinating. From her rags to riches story to the cutthroat competition among abortionist of the time to the surprising supporters of the abortionist and the haters, I wasn’t able to put this book down.

This book and story is so important right now with the re-criminalization of abortion in the United States. Women’s rights and freedoms are constantly on the chopping block just as they were 200 years ago, and just like then and throughout history, women will seek and find ways to deal with, their circumstances. Some better and safer than others.

In addition to being a riveting story, the audiobook narration by Mara Wilson was lively and vibrant as she seamlessly transitioned through character dialogue and history and facts. A pure joy to listen to.

I not only was a very entertained by this fascinating tale, I definitely came out, knowing a lot more about the history of abortion. As a lover of historical fiction/romance, this book has definitely added to my knowledge base of the time period and will be an asset to my further reading.

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright will be released tomorrow in all formats.

Thank you to Hatchette Audio for my audiobook review copy through NetGalley.

#MadameRestell #JenniferWright #pinkcowlandreads

An extremely readable biography about a fascinating but little known figure, ably narrated by Mara Wilson (although I wasn’t overly fond of the accent used only for direct quotes from Madame Restell herself). Covers both Madame Restell’s life and a greater historical context, particularly regarding perspectives on abortion, with occasional wryly humorous interjections — honestly, I could have done with more of that to offer a bit more of a consistent tone. Leans a little too heavily on my narrative nonfiction pet peeve of speculating on the thoughts or reactions of historical figures, but overall very interesting, strongly written, and well-researched.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the audiobook ARC!

This book hits just at the right time, when the country's interest in abortion rights and regulations is at a high point. The author does a great job of not only fleshing out one of the most interesting figures in America's storied abortion-history past, but also of illuminating an important time period in general. I learned a lot of new information and feel like I'm more qualified to form a well-educated opinion on some major topics now.

This was a really interesting account of someone I'd never heard of. It also sheds a light on abortion in general and how the practice has always been wanted and needed, but often vilified. Everything about this woman's live is sheer feminism - Restell practiced medicine in a time where only men were thought be doctors, she kept the majority of her patients alive, she fought for the necessity of abortion, she was the breadwinner of her family (and could afford her own real estate), and she continued to defy those who tried to put her out of business.

I would absolutely watch a movie of this woman's life.

What an engaging, colorful, well-structured biography of a woman who managed to make her way in a world built for and run by powerful men! The author's humorous and sly comments laced throughout kept this book at the top of my audiobook list until I finished it. The audio narrator's tone was comfortable and knowing, as if they were telling the story instead of simply reading the book.

A good biography might just leave the reader with more questions than they began with; Madame Restell did that for me. I'll be looking for more nonfiction accounts of American women reproductive healthcare providers during the 1800s of all races and classes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Hachette for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

A really fascinating look at the history of abortion in the US through the biography of one notorious abortionist. I appreciate how the book resists canonizing Madame Restell while also showing how fearless she clearly was. The way she met her end because of Anthony Comstock (of the Comstock Laws) was honestly so intriguing. Ultimately, this book paints a grim picture of how the abortion debate has never been about the welfare of babies and always about controlling, discrediting, and subjugating women. Great narration from former child actor Mara Wilson!

Jennifer Wright's Madame Restell is a compelling tale of abortion rights in nineteenth-century United States and the infamous woman at the center of the controversy. She explores the women who offered vital services, the men who tried to stop them, and the ethical underpinnings of medical care. Restell is at once an ordinary figure – one of many women who not only provided abortions, but publicly advertised them – and a unique one with odd flairs and a large personality. The most surprising part of the book is Wright's exploration of Madame Restell's death. I won't elaborate, but it takes some wild turns.

Wright doesn't hesitate to inject her personal opinions about reproductive rights. This didn't bother me at all (in part because I agree); in fact, the conclusion was one of my favorite parts of the book, as it shows how deeply Wright cares about her subject due to her own experience with motherhood.

4/5: A solid biography of a formidable woman that grows into something more, becoming a treatise on women and their place in American medical history. Wonderfully narrated by Mara Wilson; I highly recommend the audiobook version.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this read. It had a little bit of everything for history buffs: biography, historical information to give the reader some background, and even a bit of the author's person story. I thought the narrator was great - she did different voices and accents for each character to make it clear when they were talking versus just background information, and she made it sound more like a podcast than a book about the history of birth control. I know some people had an issue about how the author used Madame Restell more as a jumping off point to write about birth control and access to abortion in the 19th century, but I thought that was a clever move. Madame Restell is such an interesting and divisive character, and using her story helped frame the country's attitude of abortion against the reality of the situation. I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed books like Radium Girls. Be prepared though, it's a long read - it was about 13 hours.

Thank you to Hachette Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audio ARC!

I did not expect to laugh to myself as often as I did while listening to this. Told with heart and humor, Wright paints a very clear picture of the transition from abortions being common place to their current place as a cultural and religious lightening rod. The woman of Madame Restell is made out to be a full person, neither a sinner nor a saint, but fully a woman who will work incredibly diligently to achieve her goals.

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.

I enjoyed Jennifer Wright's compelling, well-researched biography of the notorious -- and misunderstood -- 19th century abortionist Madame Restell. Wright skilfully blends historical context with fast-paced, yet richly detailed biography. Primary sources such as the contemporary New York Sun and Herald newspapers make it clear that early and mid-19th century newspapers set precedents for internet-era misinformation, exaggeration, and caustically worded commentary about women that dared to live as public figures. The ire was sharpened by Restell's business success.

Once a British immigrant, as Anne later became Madame Restell she made use of American notions of class, exoticism, and respectability (though Restell was no churchgoer, she kept a large Bible in the parlor of her headquarters because women seeking abortions could find ease in its pages while waiting). Madame Restell had a loyal husband, a strong personal network, and unflappable poise. Newspaper accounts often took on an outraged tone as they described how she appeared tastefully dressed at court dates. Not even a jail term at the notorious Blackwell Island could crack her sangfroid; Restell's growing wealth and political connections meant that she was the only prisoner receiving regular visits from her husband and deliveries of fresh peaches to her well-furnished cell.

The period leading up to the Gilded Age was full of eccentric, opinionated public figures; Wright includes several that are relevant to the intense public discussions of abortion and women’s identity as sexual or legal beings. When Restell’s fortune falters, she is shaken, but remains true to herself. Wright’s excellent book brings life to a complex historical figure. Heroine, villanness, or both by turns? Plunge into this absorbing work and decide for yourself.

As a Reference Librarian, I recommend Madame Restell to readers interested in popular history; undergraduate faculty in search of engaging reading assignments; people interested in the history of women’s reproductive rights, social sciences; and fiction readers seeking grounded context for the historical fiction they are reading. In recent years, some authors of romance genre fiction have written novels set during New York’s Gilded Age; the wonderful romance author, Joanna Shupe has published a vivid, well-researched, and enjoyable series, so I recommend Madame Restell to Shupe readers. I also recommend this book to fans of the also marvelous Maya Rodale.