The trials of Madame Restell Nineteenth-century America's most infamous female physician and the campaign to make abortion a crime

In this illuminating narrative, Syrett (American Child Bride), a gender studies professor at the University of Kansas, profiles Ann Trow Summers Lohman (1812--1878), a female physician and abortion provider who practiced in New York City under the pseudonym Madame Restell. When Lohman established her career in the late 1830s, abortion and other women's reproductive healthcare were largely legal and overseen by female midwives, but legal restrictions, moral condemnations, and opposition from all-male medical institutions grew over the half century during which she worked. In spite of increasing backlash, Madame Restell was a highly successful and sought-after practitioner. She advertised her services in major papers and often wrote long letters to the press defending her practice against legal challenges and protest. She was arrested numerous times, and in 1839 served a year in a dismal prison on Blackwell's Island. In 1870, antivice activist Anthony Comstock tricked Lohman by pretending to be a customer, leading to another arrest. Based on his evidence, she was indicted for advertising and selling contraceptives and abortifacients. Knowing that she was facing a certain prison sentence, Lohman died by suicide. Drawing extensively on newspaper reports and trial records, Syrett reveals an entire underground industry that flourished in 19th-century American cities, and tracks the rise of opposition to women's reproductive care over time. It's an eye-opening account. Illus. (Oct.)

Syrett's (women, gender, and sexuality studies, Univ. of Kansas; An Open Secret) latest traces the life of Ann Trow Summers Lohman (1812--78), a prominent 19th-century health care practitioner known as Madame Restell. Lohman provided a full range of medical services, helping women who were trying to become pregnant, as well as those who wanted to avoid or end a pregnancy. When Lohman first began her practice, gestational health care was overseen by midwives, and it was not considered a crime to terminate a pregnancy before quickening. But American politicians, doctors, and religious crusaders, concerned about population changes caused by immigration to the U.S. and hoping to regulate women's autonomy, soon put legislative restrictions in place. Narrator Madeleine Maby relays Lohman's biography, from her childhood in England, where her parents were overwhelmed by their large family, to her establishment of a successful business and the troubles that came soon thereafter. Maby brings an air of empathy and authority to her narration, honoring a courageous woman who helped countless others gain control over their reproductive health. VERDICT A timely, well-researched account that provides historical insight into present-day debates about abortion and reproductive rights in the United States.--Laura Trombley

A survey of the early days of anti-abortion activism. Syrett, a scholar of women's, gender, and sexuality studies, draws on considerable archival sources to recount the life of British-born Ann Trow Summers Lohman (1812-1878), aka Madame Restell, who became infamous as a women's health provider. The author examines the social and cultural forces that made her a wealthy celebrity and repeatedly attempted to quash her. Lawmakers, doctors, and vice crusaders sought to limit women's bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, and a "nativist outcry" emerged from Americans fearful that allowing abortion for upper- and middle-class married women, thereby limiting the size of their families, would result in a nation overrun with the offspring of fecund immigrants. Abortion foes were also concerned that women who sought to end a pregnancy were rejecting their sacred destiny to be a mother. Furthermore, the American Medical Association was determined to keep women's bodies firmly under its control. Early in her career, one of Restell's most energetic detractors was George Washington Dixon, a zealous reporter who published vicious attacks and rejoiced in her arrest in 1841. Public interest in her trial--where her "youth, beauty, black eyes, raven hair, and singular physiognomy" attracted admiring attention--and the 1842 appeal that overturned her conviction, afforded her "enormous amounts of publicity," which the savvy businesswoman used to her advantage. Throughout her career, she vied with competitors, notably two known as Mrs. Bird and Madame Costello, and she fought accusations of "manslaughter in the second degree for the abortion of a quick child"; of abduction, and of murdering infants. Syrett portrays her as empathetic toward her clients--if less so toward her daughter and brother; strong-willed as she fought against misogyny; and wily in her business dealings. This book is a solid complement to Jennifer Wright's Madame Restell. A richly detailed biography of a defiant woman. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.