Editorial Content for Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Jennifer Wright has brought to fresh view and consideration the life of Madame Restell, whose success and power were built on one of life’s tragedies --- unwanted pregnancies. Read More
Teaser
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. Her bustling “boarding house” provided birth control, abortions and medical assistance to thousands of women --- rich and poor alike. Unfortunately for Madame Restell, her rise to the top of her field coincided with a campaign to curtail women’s power by restricting their access to both healthcare and careers of their own. By unraveling the misogynistic and misleading lies that put women’s lives in jeopardy, Jennifer Wright simultaneously restores Restell to her rightful place in history and obliterates the faulty reasoning underlying the very foundation of what has since been dubbed the “pro-life” movement.
Promo
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. Her bustling “boarding house” provided birth control, abortions and medical assistance to thousands of women --- rich and poor alike. Unfortunately for Madame Restell, her rise to the top of her field coincided with a campaign to curtail women’s power by restricting their access to both healthcare and careers of their own. By unraveling the misogynistic and misleading lies that put women’s lives in jeopardy, Jennifer Wright simultaneously restores Restell to her rightful place in history and obliterates the faulty reasoning underlying the very foundation of what has since been dubbed the “pro-life” movement.
About the Book
Discover the true story of a self-taught surgeon and trailblazing figure in medical history --- Madame Restsell, 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, parading 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 her down.
Unfortunately for Madame Restell, her rise to the top of her field coincided with “the greatest scam you’ve never heard about” --- the campaign to curtail women’s power by restricting their access to both healthcare and careers of their own. Powerful, secular men --- threatened by women’s burgeoning independence --- were eager to declare abortion sinful, a position endorsed by newly minted male MDs who longed to edge out their feminine competition and turn medicine into a standardized, male-only practice. By unraveling the misogynistic and misleading lies that put women’s lives in jeopardy, Wright simultaneously restores Restell to her rightful place in history and obliterates the faulty reasoning underlying the very foundation of what has since been dubbed the “pro-life” movement.
Thought-provoking, character-driven, boldly written and feminist as hell, MADAME RESTELL is required reading for anyone and everyone who believes that when it comes to women’s rights, women’s bodies and women’s history, women should have the last word.
Audiobook available, read by Mara Wilson
Editorial Content for The Crane Husband
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Kelly Barnhill is the Newbery Medal–winning author of middle grade fiction and has penned WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS, a feminist fantasy novel for adults. Her latest book, THE CRANE HUSBAND, is a novella that reimagines the Japanese folktale “The Crane Wife.” Read More
Teaser
A 15-year-old is the backbone of her small Midwestern family, budgeting the household finances and raising her younger brother while her mom, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries. For six years, it’s been just the three of them --- her mom has brought home guests at times, but none have ever stayed. Yet when her mom brings home a six-foot-tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to prevent her mom letting the intruder into her heart and her children’s lives. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, her mom abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands.
Promo
A 15-year-old is the backbone of her small Midwestern family, budgeting the household finances and raising her younger brother while her mom, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries. For six years, it’s been just the three of them --- her mom has brought home guests at times, but none have ever stayed. Yet when her mom brings home a six-foot-tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to prevent her mom letting the intruder into her heart and her children’s lives. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, her mom abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands.
About the Book
Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill brings her singular talents to THE CRANE HUSBAND, a raw, powerful story of love, sacrifice and family.
“Mothers fly away like migrating birds. This is why farmers have daughters.”
A 15-year-old is the backbone of her small Midwestern family, budgeting the household finances and raising her younger brother while her mom, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries. For six years, it’s been just the three of them --- her mom has brought home guests at times, but none have ever stayed.
Yet when her mom brings home a six-foot-tall crane with a menacing air, the girl is powerless to prevent her mom letting the intruder into her heart and her children’s lives. Utterly enchanted and numb to his sharp edges, her mom abandons the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane demands.
In this stunning contemporary retelling of “The Crane Wife” by the Newbery Medal-winning author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, one fiercely pragmatic teen forced to grow up faster than was fair will do whatever it takes to protect her family --- and change the story.
Editorial Content for The Blood of Patriots and Traitors: A Max Geller Spy Thriller
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In 2020’s THE PRESIDENT’S DOSSIER, the first entry in James A. Scott’s thriller series, Max Geller’s derogatory emails regarding President Ted Walldrum are leaked. The CIA deems Geller persona non grata and forces its most valued agent to “voluntarily” quit his gig --- after Geller surreptitiously absconds with 10 million bucks from a Russian off-record covert operation. How can a government entity that doesn’t exist have 10 mil to steal? “The Russians wanted me for bank robbery, murder, and skyjacking. Read More
Teaser
Former CIA Russia expert Max Geller is recovering from an intense mission while lying low in Australia, enjoying his sudden wealth in the company of his new girlfriend, Vanessa. But his beachy bliss is short-lived when he is ambushed by the CIA. He soon learns that Vanessa is being used as blackmail by his former CIA boss, Rodney, to convince him to go to Moscow. His mission is to smuggle out a defector with knowledge of a secret Kremlin war plan. Max is wanted by the Russians, so the defector could be bait to lure him into the hands of his old enemy, FSB Colonel Zabluda. When Max is spotted in Moscow, Zabluda launches a manhunt, pursuing him and the defector across country lines. Max and the defector race to evade countless attacks and attempts at capture as they escape to the United States.
Promo
Former CIA Russia expert Max Geller is recovering from an intense mission while lying low in Australia, enjoying his sudden wealth in the company of his new girlfriend, Vanessa. But his beachy bliss is short-lived when he is ambushed by the CIA. He soon learns that Vanessa is being used as blackmail by his former CIA boss, Rodney, to convince him to go to Moscow. His mission is to smuggle out a defector with knowledge of a secret Kremlin war plan. Max is wanted by the Russians, so the defector could be bait to lure him into the hands of his old enemy, FSB Colonel Zabluda. When Max is spotted in Moscow, Zabluda launches a manhunt, pursuing him and the defector across country lines. Max and the defector race to evade countless attacks and attempts at capture as they escape to the United States.
About the Book
A Russian defector. A worldwide dragnet. A looming assassination. Max Geller is back in Moscow.
Former CIA Russia expert Max Geller is recovering from an intense mission while lying low in Australia, enjoying his sudden wealth in the company of his new girlfriend. But his beachy bliss is short-lived when Max, while relaxing by the ocean, is ambushed by the CIA.
He soon learns that his girlfriend, Vanessa, is being used as blackmail by his former CIA boss, Rodney, to convince Max to go to Moscow. His mission? Smuggle out a defector with knowledge of a secret Kremlin war plan. Max is wanted by the Russians, so the defector could be bait to lure him into the hands of his old enemy, FSB Colonel Zabluda. But it’s either Max or Vanessa who must go, so Max takes the bait and heads off.
When Max is spotted in Moscow, Zabluda launches a manhunt, pursuing him and the defector across country lines. Max and the defector race to evade countless attacks and attempts at capture as they escape to the United States.
Will they make it in time? And what happens when the defector reveals crucial information that indicates U.S. democracy could be in peril? Max must figure out a way to avoid capture and halt imminent attacks --- before it’s too late.
March 3, 2023
You know the expression “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”? Or vice versa. Years ago, my boys laughed when I told them that I wanted us to have a lamb/lamb month. Well, part one came true, as it came in like a lamb after we finally saw a few inches of snow on the last day of February. We shall see how the month ends.
Which of the following fiction titles releasing in March do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.
March 3, 2023, 672 voters












