Fascinating account of Elizabeth Packard, whose husband shut her up in an insane asylum in the mid-1800s because she disagreed with his religious beliefs. Readers will learn about how married women were property, and husbands could pretty much do whatever they wanted with them. Readers will learn about the very primitive beliefs in the arena of psychiatry and psychoanalysis, and what so called experts thought about the connection between menstrual cycles and "insanity."

Packard fought back, using every tool she could muster, along with some outside support. She became responsible for better laws (as much as could be said for the 19th century), and achieved personal agency through that long, drawn out battle.

Highly recommended.