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

Wright’s (Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them ) biography of Ann Trow (1812–78) is also a fiery exploration of lingering Victorian-era attitudes about gender roles and women’s reproductive rights. In 1831, Trow, a skilled seamstress, came to New York City from England with her husband and young daughter. Widowed soon after they arrived, she supported herself with her knowledge of compounding birth-control pills and pills that induced miscarriages. To boost business, Trow and her second husband concocted the persona of Madame Restell—a skilled professional whose French grandmother, a renowned physician, provided her with advanced medical training. Restell’s business flourished until religious leaders and politicians began arguing that women were mere vessels for the “potential males” they were carrying, and abortion was increasingly criminalized. The narrator, former child-star Mara Wilson, expertly delivers this well-researched and often wonderfully irreverent title. Wilson perfectly captures Wright’s tone, which ranges from informative to righteously indignant to heartfelt, especially in the prologue, where the author reveals her struggles with fertility and her daughter’s difficult birth.