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

Jennifer Wright

eBook - 2023

Discover the true story of a self-taught surgeon and trailblazing figure in medical history—Madame Restell, a revolutionary surgeon who fought for women's rights and healthcare in Gilded Age New York.​ An industrious immigrant who built her business from the ground up, Madame Restell was a self-taught surgeon on the cutting edge of healthcare in pre-Gilded Age New York, and her bustling “boarding house” provided birth control, abortions, and medical assistance to thousands of women—rich and poor alike. As her practice expanded, her notoriety swelled, and Restell established her-self as a prime target for tabloids, threats, and lawsuits galore. But far from fading into the background, she defiantly flaunted her wealth, paradin...g across the city in designer clothes, expensive jewelry, and bejeweled carriages, rubbing her success in the faces of the many politicians, publishers, fellow physicians, and religious figures determined to bring... more