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In the Hands of Women
In the Hands of Women is a suspenseful historical novel centered on the life of Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician in training who was determined to improve medical safety for women in a time when women had few choices. This carefully researched work, set in 1900 Baltimore and New York City, when birth control and abortion were both illegal, leaves us contemplating whether history is repeating itself.
With the advent of obstetrics and anesthesia as distinct fields of practice in 1900, hospital births rapidly gained popularity. Midwives, who previously cared for these women, began supplementing their shrinking incomes with abortions, sometimes performing dangerous midterm abortions with disastrous consequences.
Hannah, a devoted women’s advocate and suffragist, finds herself overwhelmed by the ignorance and medical needs of her patients, poor and wealthy. She is determined to make a difference and joins Margaret Sanger in her crusade to overturn the restrictive Comstock Laws prohibiting birth control. After coming to the aid of a woman dying from a botched abortion, Hannah is charged with murder and sent to the terrifying Blackwell’s Prison to await her trial. With the support of influential friends, including Margaret Sanger and the female trustees of Johns Hopkins Medical School, she challenges the Governor of New York with a novel proposition.
With the advent of obstetrics and anesthesia as distinct fields of practice in 1900, hospital births rapidly gained popularity. Midwives, who previously cared for these women, began supplementing their shrinking incomes with abortions, sometimes performing dangerous midterm abortions with disastrous consequences.
Hannah, a devoted women’s advocate and suffragist, finds herself overwhelmed by the ignorance and medical needs of her patients, poor and wealthy. She is determined to make a difference and joins Margaret Sanger in her crusade to overturn the restrictive Comstock Laws prohibiting birth control. After coming to the aid of a woman dying from a botched abortion, Hannah is charged with murder and sent to the terrifying Blackwell’s Prison to await her trial. With the support of influential friends, including Margaret Sanger and the female trustees of Johns Hopkins Medical School, she challenges the Governor of New York with a novel proposition.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 23, 2023
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2647 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
July 2, 2023
Dnf at 35%
I was very excited for this book. An interesting and important topic, the historical setting was just a bonus.
Unfortunately this “suspenseful novel” is incredibly boring and instead of suspenseful mostly just depressing. I understand the need to include misery and suffering to make the book historically accurate, but there’s nothing else and the story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
The writing didn’t work for me either, there were too many irrelevant and distracting details that slowed down the story. It all felt too flat to hold my interest.
Thank you Level Best Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was very excited for this book. An interesting and important topic, the historical setting was just a bonus.
Unfortunately this “suspenseful novel” is incredibly boring and instead of suspenseful mostly just depressing. I understand the need to include misery and suffering to make the book historically accurate, but there’s nothing else and the story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
The writing didn’t work for me either, there were too many irrelevant and distracting details that slowed down the story. It all felt too flat to hold my interest.
Thank you Level Best Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 6, 2023
This well researched novel did what I always want historical novels to do - it got me researching the time (1900) and some of the real characters in the book. The author uses fictional characters (one based on her great- grandmother) to flesh out the story of women’s medical rights at that time. Incredibly, some of the terrible social conditions in the book still exist today.
If you like Call the Midwife, you will probably enjoy this too.
If you like Call the Midwife, you will probably enjoy this too.
June 2, 2023
One of the best reads this year! In the Hands of Women is a story that has it all, history, mystery, politics, and romance. Set against the backdrop of the women's suffragette movement and the mass influx of European immigrants of the 1900s, Hannah, a Jewish doctor, fights to find her place in the male-dominated medical world of John Hopkins in Baltimore, specifically in the emerging field of obstetrics.
After navigating the prejudices women face, she finds a position at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, but her world will turn upside down when she is accused of a shocking crime. Amidst the chaos that ensues, she discovers the urgent need to reform women’s medical care, including contraception. Through Hannah’s journey, you will be captivated by her determination and courage in the face of adversity.
After navigating the prejudices women face, she finds a position at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, but her world will turn upside down when she is accused of a shocking crime. Amidst the chaos that ensues, she discovers the urgent need to reform women’s medical care, including contraception. Through Hannah’s journey, you will be captivated by her determination and courage in the face of adversity.
October 30, 2025
Started well and it's an interesting story, but the last third of the book, when it started with the grant dragged, and the abrupt ending dropped it a notch for me.
****
I'm surprised at the number of errors in this book so far (including one of my pet peeves: "pour" instead of "pore"). Could have used another round with a proofreader.
****
I'm surprised at the number of errors in this book so far (including one of my pet peeves: "pour" instead of "pore"). Could have used another round with a proofreader.
August 26, 2023
This was one of the best historical fiction books I've read in recent times. Hannah Isaacson is an obstetrician-in-training in 1900s Baltimore and New York City. She's determined to make women safer during their pregnancies and childbirth. It's a constant battle against backstreet abortions and the boardrooms of hospitals dominated by men. Even her male colleagues offer her little respect. When a botched abortion takes her to the scene of a dying woman, she is charged with murder and sent to Blackwell's Prison. I found the characters in this story courageous, intelligent, and compassionate. It isn't hard to root for Hannah. The settings were well-researched, and the prison scenes filled with gritty realism. Reading this book makes you consider the days in which we're living with moral questions surrounding us when it comes to the rights of women to make decisions about their own health. Wonderful book! Five Stars!
June 1, 2023
This book is fantastic! Best historical fiction read of the year for me. The women characters are so enjoyable you feel like they're your friends. Interesting time period with a behind-the-scenes look at women in medicine (and prison!). Don't read any more reviews, just go get a copy and dive in. You will love it!
September 12, 2023
This was such a fantastic surprise. I’m due to begin graduate-entry medical school and have a strong background in reproductive medicine. I’ve also just recently had my first child. I couldn’t have found a better book! This book was so gripping for me. Both from the exceptionally described challenges faced by the people in early 1900s NY and the strong emphasis on women’s health and social needs. This book comes at a good time I think for women in America. All that progress made only for women’s health to have taken such a dive in the last few years. Family planning has always been an important part of women’s freedom. I hope this book inspires others to push for better policy on women’s health. It’s all demonstrated so clearly!
Jane certainly did outstanding background research for this book and I just want to thank you for giving me something soo enjoyable to read. I’m even more convinced of my own motivation into medical school. Dr Isaacson certainly is an aspiration.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warning for other readers: there is infant loss in the book (naturally with a story about an obstetrician, sadly).
Jane certainly did outstanding background research for this book and I just want to thank you for giving me something soo enjoyable to read. I’m even more convinced of my own motivation into medical school. Dr Isaacson certainly is an aspiration.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warning for other readers: there is infant loss in the book (naturally with a story about an obstetrician, sadly).
February 24, 2024
Read with the book club I never get to meet with... I don't think I'd have found this book without them !
May 31, 2023
Very informative and a quick read. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it!
November 19, 2023
A BOOK WITH HEART: ‘IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN’ BY JANE LOEB RUBIN
November 20, 2023
This novel opens in Baltimore, USA, in 1900. Hannah Isaacson is one of a small group of women admitted to Johns Hopkins Medical School, in the face of doubt and opposition from the men who dominate and control everything about healthcare and medical education, including for women. She is determined to achieve her goal of working as a qualified doctor in obstetrics.
To do so, she has to study and work hard and find a way around the demands and questionable practices from some doctors who don’t put the interests of patients first.
She becomes increasingly concerned about the rising number of women she has to deal with who are the victims of botched abortions. The stark reality of women’s lives at this time led some to choose this way of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy: middle-class and ‘society’ women to avoid shame for themselves and their families; poor women because they cannot afford another mouth to feed.
Contraceptive devices were illegal under Federal US laws at the time – women left with very few choices regarding family planning and their own health needs.
Hannah wants to work to change all this.
After she is qualified, she moves back to her home town of New York City to work in a major Jewish hospital there, and meets other women with similar aims, including the real-life Margaret Sanger, a pioneer in areas of women’s birth control and suffrage.
When Hannah tries to save the life of a woman dying after a botched abortion, she is arrested and incarcerated at the notorious Blackwell’s Workhouse, where she is horrified at appalling neglect and abuse of inmates. Her experiences here add to her determination to address the devastating effects of poverty on women, especially among the communities of immigrants pouring into New York from Europe and Ireland.
When she is finally released, she has to claw back her reputation and career, and while doing so, develops a plan to create women’s health services in the poorest parts of the city.
This is a carefully researched novel, with a mix of real-life and imagined characters. I love that part of the inspiration for one of its central women, was the author’s great-grandmother. And I enjoyed learning about the beginnings of modern hospital care and obstetric services in an important US centre and its immigrant populations, especially Jewish people from Europe escaping anti-semitism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Hannah is a believable character. She is determined, but not without anxieties and insecurities. Her experiences with men add complications and leave her questioning her own instincts. Many readers will relate to that side of Hannah. However, despite all the challenges confronting her, she does not lose sight of her goals to better the lives of others. She is smart, sensitive and empathic. Her dealings with the men in charge of institutional funds and regulations allow her to develop some wily negotiation skills!
I enjoyed In the Hands of Women: an engrossing novel with themes and characters I could care about. There is a prequel on the way by Jane Loeb Rubin which I look forward to reading on its release.
In the Hands of Women was published by Level Best Books in May 2023.
My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a review copy.
November 20, 2023
This novel opens in Baltimore, USA, in 1900. Hannah Isaacson is one of a small group of women admitted to Johns Hopkins Medical School, in the face of doubt and opposition from the men who dominate and control everything about healthcare and medical education, including for women. She is determined to achieve her goal of working as a qualified doctor in obstetrics.
To do so, she has to study and work hard and find a way around the demands and questionable practices from some doctors who don’t put the interests of patients first.
She becomes increasingly concerned about the rising number of women she has to deal with who are the victims of botched abortions. The stark reality of women’s lives at this time led some to choose this way of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy: middle-class and ‘society’ women to avoid shame for themselves and their families; poor women because they cannot afford another mouth to feed.
Contraceptive devices were illegal under Federal US laws at the time – women left with very few choices regarding family planning and their own health needs.
Hannah wants to work to change all this.
After she is qualified, she moves back to her home town of New York City to work in a major Jewish hospital there, and meets other women with similar aims, including the real-life Margaret Sanger, a pioneer in areas of women’s birth control and suffrage.
When Hannah tries to save the life of a woman dying after a botched abortion, she is arrested and incarcerated at the notorious Blackwell’s Workhouse, where she is horrified at appalling neglect and abuse of inmates. Her experiences here add to her determination to address the devastating effects of poverty on women, especially among the communities of immigrants pouring into New York from Europe and Ireland.
When she is finally released, she has to claw back her reputation and career, and while doing so, develops a plan to create women’s health services in the poorest parts of the city.
This is a carefully researched novel, with a mix of real-life and imagined characters. I love that part of the inspiration for one of its central women, was the author’s great-grandmother. And I enjoyed learning about the beginnings of modern hospital care and obstetric services in an important US centre and its immigrant populations, especially Jewish people from Europe escaping anti-semitism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Hannah is a believable character. She is determined, but not without anxieties and insecurities. Her experiences with men add complications and leave her questioning her own instincts. Many readers will relate to that side of Hannah. However, despite all the challenges confronting her, she does not lose sight of her goals to better the lives of others. She is smart, sensitive and empathic. Her dealings with the men in charge of institutional funds and regulations allow her to develop some wily negotiation skills!
I enjoyed In the Hands of Women: an engrossing novel with themes and characters I could care about. There is a prequel on the way by Jane Loeb Rubin which I look forward to reading on its release.
In the Hands of Women was published by Level Best Books in May 2023.
My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a review copy.
August 6, 2023
In the Hands of Women, by Jane Loeb Rubin, is an intriguing historical novel that focuses on Dr Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician in training who's working to better medical safety for women. I found this carefully researched novel so interesting. I've never been a fan of Margaret Sanger yet it was interesting to learn more about her. The book focuses on the long fight on the right for women to access birth control and the tragedies that occurred along the way.
Obstetrics and anesthesia had become distinct medical fields of practice in 1900. As hospital births became more popular, non professionally trained Midwives felt forced to boost their diminishing wages with illegal abortions. This included carrying out unsafe midterm abortions with deadly results. Dr
Hannah Isaacson is concerned about the ignorance and medical needs that she's witnessing in her patients. It doesn't seem to matter whether they're poor or wealthy. Determined to improve women's lives, she joins Margaret Sanger in the fight to repeal the restrictive Comstock Laws that prohibit women's access to birth control.
Obstetrics and anesthesia had become distinct medical fields of practice in 1900. As hospital births became more popular, non professionally trained Midwives felt forced to boost their diminishing wages with illegal abortions. This included carrying out unsafe midterm abortions with deadly results. Dr
Hannah Isaacson is concerned about the ignorance and medical needs that she's witnessing in her patients. It doesn't seem to matter whether they're poor or wealthy. Determined to improve women's lives, she joins Margaret Sanger in the fight to repeal the restrictive Comstock Laws that prohibit women's access to birth control.
June 1, 2023
Jane Loeb Rubin’s In the Hands of Women is a compelling and well-researched novel centered on women’s reproductive healthcare challenges in circa 1900 New York, as told by Hannah Isaacson, a Johns Hopkins-educated doctor who, as a woman and a Jew, faces misogyny and anti-Semitism on multiple fronts. Rubin’s story is a page-turner, with something for everyone, at once a great book club selection, a sophisticated beach read, and fascinating historical fiction, which resonates with today's abortion battles and influx of immigrants struggling for a better life amid widespread pushback. Rubin delivers a story of one visionary woman’s many professional and personal battles, and her eventual triumph. It is also a story of love lost and found, and an eye-opening education in history for those hoping it won’t repeat itself. In short, this book is a must read. Brava, Jane Rubin!
June 17, 2024
Such a good story. In the Hands of Women is a story that has it all, history, mystery, politics, and romance. Set against the backdrop of the women's suffragette movement and the mass influx of European immigrants of the 1900s.
Rubin delivers a story of one visionary woman’s many professional and personal battles, and her eventual triumph. It is also a story of love lost and found, and an eye-opening education in history for those hoping it won’t repeat itself.
Rubin delivers a story of one visionary woman’s many professional and personal battles, and her eventual triumph. It is also a story of love lost and found, and an eye-opening education in history for those hoping it won’t repeat itself.
August 1, 2023
I could not put this book down! I was drawn to Hannah and found myself missing hearing about her when I finished reading the book. Overall a great read. I look forward to more from this author.
December 4, 2025
https://wendyreadit.wordpress.com/202...
I found this book in my pile of books sent to me to review and do not recall receiving this one and, it's signed by Jane Rubin! It came with me on vacation and I really enjoyed it. The story begins in the early 1900s at Johns Hopkins University following some of the first women allowed to study to become obstetricians. Selfless women subjected themselves to a lot of abuse in this male dominated field. Women like Hannah Isaacson put their lives at risk to strive for better treatment when it came to women's health. So many women were dying from botched abortions at this time in our history and doctors specializing in women's health were so needed. We follow the life of Hannah from her Jewish roots in New York City to school in Baltimore and then back to New York where she befriends Margaret Sanger, who was instrumental in the women's suffraget movement at the time. Fans of historical fiction and women's fiction will enjoy this story.
I found this book in my pile of books sent to me to review and do not recall receiving this one and, it's signed by Jane Rubin! It came with me on vacation and I really enjoyed it. The story begins in the early 1900s at Johns Hopkins University following some of the first women allowed to study to become obstetricians. Selfless women subjected themselves to a lot of abuse in this male dominated field. Women like Hannah Isaacson put their lives at risk to strive for better treatment when it came to women's health. So many women were dying from botched abortions at this time in our history and doctors specializing in women's health were so needed. We follow the life of Hannah from her Jewish roots in New York City to school in Baltimore and then back to New York where she befriends Margaret Sanger, who was instrumental in the women's suffraget movement at the time. Fans of historical fiction and women's fiction will enjoy this story.
September 9, 2025
An excellent look at the struggle to become a female doctor in the early 20th century and how to care for the growing number of European refugees arriving in New York City at the time. I appreciated the attention to detail in describing the daily work of the medical students and doctors in training. The book slows down slightly near the end as Hannah negotiates who will receive the substantial state grant to improve hospitals.
December 27, 2025
For those of us that love historical fiction, this continues to follow Hannah Issacson from the excellent book Threadbare, a female doctor in the early 1900s.
Rich with New York City historical fiction. I looked forward to reading this but found a bit of a drag at times. Cannot wait for the next sequel!
Rich with New York City historical fiction. I looked forward to reading this but found a bit of a drag at times. Cannot wait for the next sequel!
July 18, 2023
“In the Hands of Women” by Jane Loeb Rubin is an engaging and insightful book that I highly recommend. This well researched historical fiction novel, which is set in Baltimore and New York City in the early 1900s, is about a young woman studying to be a doctor at a time when women were not welcome in any professional field, least of all medicine. The book follows her personal and professional journey towards attaining her goal of becoming a gynecologist while facing problems such as abortion, access to birth control and societal antipathy to a woman’s professional success. The reader becomes involved with a touching and relevant personal family history of cancer as well as the biases of the times, including women’s admission to medical school and the suffragette movement. The hero, Hannah Isaacson, is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and women’s success. Her struggle echoes important issues for her as well as for today, making this novel not only relevant for her time, but for ours as well.
July 12, 2023
This was a stirring story of a woman's foray into the field of medicine in the early 1900s. The protagonist has to cope with sexism and anti-Semitism from the doctors she works with, as well as the other characters. She was a heroine.
This book was extremely well-researched and thought-provoking.
This book was extremely well-researched and thought-provoking.
January 8, 2024
Jane Loeb Rubin, In the Hands of Women, Level Best Books, Independent Book publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Titles, May 2023.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with his uncorrected proof for review.
In the Hands of Women is set in New York in the early 1900s, with Hannah Isaacson, a MD in obstetrics as the central character. Not only does she suffer from discrimination against women, but antisemitism. Her public life is centred around the hospital in which she works, the prison in which she is wrongly incarcerated and her activism on behalf of women. Hannah Isaacson also has a private life in which the sexist nature of women and men’s relationships is depicted through her friendships with women and relationships with men. Her family life is also an important feature of the novel, driving an even greater understanding of the medical practices Isaacson sought to improve in relation to childbirth. Abortion, and the laws surrounding it, as well as the personal impact of abortion make graphic reading.
Hannah and her family are engaging characters, strong, supportive and warm. They are fictional, but one has her genesis in a family member. Other characters are taken from real life - John Hopkins Trustees, Mrs Garret and Mrs Thompson; New York State governors, Higgins and Hughes; and Margaret Sanger, an advocate for women. Loeb Rubin attests that the political climate and medical situation that she depicts have their basis in fact. She has researched widely, referring to the non-fiction material and research staff of museums and libraries that assisted her at the end of the novel in a bibliography and acknowledgements.
From the material that she has accumulated, and her knowledge of the 1900s social and political environment, Loeb Rubin has written a novel that is not only engaging but informative. Women doctors’ acceptance in hospitals on sufferance, and despite their education and elevated position in the paid workforce, their susceptibility to male doctors’ importunities is disturbing, but realistically drawn. The prison scenes and relationships make an excellent contribution to the debate about abortion, as well as giving Hannah Isaacson another area in which to work. At the same time, the way in which political activism can take place through seemingly small contributions is demonstrated. Class differences, in the Jewish community as well as in the wider community provide areas of debate which are met boldly by Loeb Rubin, replicating her ability to confront difficult issues is an informative and engrossing style.
In the Hands of Women is a good read, combining a host of historical information with engaging characters and a plot that works well. The novel makes and excellent contribution to historical fiction.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with his uncorrected proof for review.
In the Hands of Women is set in New York in the early 1900s, with Hannah Isaacson, a MD in obstetrics as the central character. Not only does she suffer from discrimination against women, but antisemitism. Her public life is centred around the hospital in which she works, the prison in which she is wrongly incarcerated and her activism on behalf of women. Hannah Isaacson also has a private life in which the sexist nature of women and men’s relationships is depicted through her friendships with women and relationships with men. Her family life is also an important feature of the novel, driving an even greater understanding of the medical practices Isaacson sought to improve in relation to childbirth. Abortion, and the laws surrounding it, as well as the personal impact of abortion make graphic reading.
Hannah and her family are engaging characters, strong, supportive and warm. They are fictional, but one has her genesis in a family member. Other characters are taken from real life - John Hopkins Trustees, Mrs Garret and Mrs Thompson; New York State governors, Higgins and Hughes; and Margaret Sanger, an advocate for women. Loeb Rubin attests that the political climate and medical situation that she depicts have their basis in fact. She has researched widely, referring to the non-fiction material and research staff of museums and libraries that assisted her at the end of the novel in a bibliography and acknowledgements.
From the material that she has accumulated, and her knowledge of the 1900s social and political environment, Loeb Rubin has written a novel that is not only engaging but informative. Women doctors’ acceptance in hospitals on sufferance, and despite their education and elevated position in the paid workforce, their susceptibility to male doctors’ importunities is disturbing, but realistically drawn. The prison scenes and relationships make an excellent contribution to the debate about abortion, as well as giving Hannah Isaacson another area in which to work. At the same time, the way in which political activism can take place through seemingly small contributions is demonstrated. Class differences, in the Jewish community as well as in the wider community provide areas of debate which are met boldly by Loeb Rubin, replicating her ability to confront difficult issues is an informative and engrossing style.
In the Hands of Women is a good read, combining a host of historical information with engaging characters and a plot that works well. The novel makes and excellent contribution to historical fiction.
June 19, 2023
NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you netgalley.com and Level Best Books. Publication Date: May 23, 2023.
I appear to be an outlier in my response to IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN by Jane Loeb Rubin. Most readers seem to be giving it four and five stars. I'd rate it 3.5 stars, a bit better than just OK.
Here's why. It has a gripping story -- a creative account of one of the first women allowed to attend the Johns Hopkins Medical School. (Women were first admitted in 1893.) Hannah Isaacson then practices obstetrics in New York City during a period of intense drama. Men in power, especially those with money, control nearly all aspects of society, including the lives of their own wives. Immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe, are pouring into a city unable to keep up with their need for decent housing, food, and medical care. Women are prevented by the Comstock Laws from accessing even the most rudimentary information about the workings of their own bodies.
Rubin's writing style is simple and straightforward. The drama was certainly enough to keep me turning pages -- it's definitely a plot-driven book. But I kept feeling the author didn't know quite which story she wanted to tell. Is it about a smart, resourceful doctor bucking the system to improve healthcare? Or a city grappling with too many immigrants? About the horrific conditions in prisons and workhouses? Illegal abortions provided by untrained midwives? About pioneering women like Margaret Sanger and others advocating for birth control access? Perhaps antisemitism in the 1900s? Or mysogyny in the medical field? Jane Loeb Rubin seems to have included a little bit of every social issue happening at this time. Including information about the responsibilities of rabbis and the food you might expect at a Sabbath dinner.
In truth, IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN is about all these things, depending on where you are in the story. All are interesting elements. I just didn't find the novel very cohesive. It felt more episodic, almost like reading related short stories. The result was I didn't find myself feeling very emotionally involved with any of the characters, though I did want to know how the story would turn out.
So, overall, a good story about strong, capable women and an interesting glimpse into early 20th century urban America. I'd recommend the book to those with a particular interest in women's medical care.
I appear to be an outlier in my response to IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN by Jane Loeb Rubin. Most readers seem to be giving it four and five stars. I'd rate it 3.5 stars, a bit better than just OK.
Here's why. It has a gripping story -- a creative account of one of the first women allowed to attend the Johns Hopkins Medical School. (Women were first admitted in 1893.) Hannah Isaacson then practices obstetrics in New York City during a period of intense drama. Men in power, especially those with money, control nearly all aspects of society, including the lives of their own wives. Immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe, are pouring into a city unable to keep up with their need for decent housing, food, and medical care. Women are prevented by the Comstock Laws from accessing even the most rudimentary information about the workings of their own bodies.
Rubin's writing style is simple and straightforward. The drama was certainly enough to keep me turning pages -- it's definitely a plot-driven book. But I kept feeling the author didn't know quite which story she wanted to tell. Is it about a smart, resourceful doctor bucking the system to improve healthcare? Or a city grappling with too many immigrants? About the horrific conditions in prisons and workhouses? Illegal abortions provided by untrained midwives? About pioneering women like Margaret Sanger and others advocating for birth control access? Perhaps antisemitism in the 1900s? Or mysogyny in the medical field? Jane Loeb Rubin seems to have included a little bit of every social issue happening at this time. Including information about the responsibilities of rabbis and the food you might expect at a Sabbath dinner.
In truth, IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN is about all these things, depending on where you are in the story. All are interesting elements. I just didn't find the novel very cohesive. It felt more episodic, almost like reading related short stories. The result was I didn't find myself feeling very emotionally involved with any of the characters, though I did want to know how the story would turn out.
So, overall, a good story about strong, capable women and an interesting glimpse into early 20th century urban America. I'd recommend the book to those with a particular interest in women's medical care.
June 22, 2023
In the Hands of Women, by Jane Loeb Rubin, is a book that is difficult to put down. Think about how hard it is for women today to achieve equal jobs, pay, and healthcare; now think about that in 1900. This novel starts with Dr. Hannah Isaacson as she is finishing her third year of obstetrics and is engaged. But now Hannah is noticing things - about her fiance, the male doctors she works with, and the healthcare system and how it treats women. After she is falsely accused of murder and spends time in prison, she has learned even more, and pledges to do whatever she can to make change. Will men listen? What will it cost? Excellent book. Great to discuss classism, racism, poverty, healthcare, and other topics.
June 15, 2023
It’s good to be ambitious, but what happens when you break into an all-male profession? In the Hands of Women tells the engrossing tale of Hannah Isaacson’s journey through medical school and beyond in turn of the century Baltimore and New York City. There is ambition, discrimination, sisterhood, love, scandal, and a little sex. Hannah is immediately likable and I felt as though I was at her side, rooting for her as she navigates the various obstacles in her path. I particularly enjoyed watching Hannah’s growing awareness that her individual characteristics, exceptional as they may be, are not enough to achieve her goals. Hannah slowly but surely learns to accept help and ultimately comes to embrace the power of the sisterhood of women.
This well researched novel deftly integrates the politics of the day into the story line, providing a compelling blend of fact and fiction. We encounter the Suffragette movement, immigration discrimination, women’s reproductive rights, and more. It is a testament to the author’s talent that she explores these issues in depth, but does not slow down the pace of the story.
This is a fast paced book that is hard to put down. The author’s prose is crisp and lean and easy to understand. My favorite character, other than Hannah, is a brilliantly bizarre and evil prison warden. I devoured this book.
This well researched novel deftly integrates the politics of the day into the story line, providing a compelling blend of fact and fiction. We encounter the Suffragette movement, immigration discrimination, women’s reproductive rights, and more. It is a testament to the author’s talent that she explores these issues in depth, but does not slow down the pace of the story.
This is a fast paced book that is hard to put down. The author’s prose is crisp and lean and easy to understand. My favorite character, other than Hannah, is a brilliantly bizarre and evil prison warden. I devoured this book.
June 11, 2023
I don’t tend to gravitate towards historical fiction but this had all the trappings to grab my attention. Hannah Isaacson was born to overcome the the societal limitations placed on her come hell or high water. But Hannah is only human and she can’t do it alone. She is surrounded by a community of women who champion for not only her but all women, especially those from more unfortunate circumstances. Hannah faces numerous setbacks along her journey but through each she perseveres.
A strong female main character surrounded by other strong women, a focus on women’s rights, and perseverance through dark times makes this book a phenomenal read. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was cheering Hannah on the whole way.
A strong female main character surrounded by other strong women, a focus on women’s rights, and perseverance through dark times makes this book a phenomenal read. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was cheering Hannah on the whole way.
August 26, 2023
I have read many books with strong feminine characters. It is always exciting to read about someone that goes beyond expectations and that accomplishes great feats, especially against steeped odds. I was invested in the plot from the beginning. Nonetheless, the first part was a letdown for me. I found the character naive and boring, the story predictable and sanctimonious. But I have to say the plot developed into a much more interesting character and story. I appreciated as well the rich details that took me to New York at the turn of the century and to all levels of society. I enjoyed it overall and despite the disappointing start, I would still give it 5 stars.
August 29, 2023
Packed full of historical detail around the turn of the 20th century in New York mainly concentrating on women's health, birth control & midwifery, the suffrage movement & women's rights, immigration, (especially Jewish) & a few chapters in the notorious Blackwell Island (which hadn't seemed to have improved in the 20 odd years following the staged incarceration of journalist Nellie Bly) & the misogyny of the male colleagues.
Interesting read although I found it hard to empathise with the characters & the writing a little stilted in places (I think mainly due to the amount of historical detail that was crammed in!)
Interesting read although I found it hard to empathise with the characters & the writing a little stilted in places (I think mainly due to the amount of historical detail that was crammed in!)
June 3, 2023
Rubin has created a marvelous character--Hannah Isaacson, a physician learning and practicing in the early years of the 20th century. Hannah encounters the usual discrimination against women and Jews, while devising ingenious ways to counter and outwit her antagonists. Readers will learn about the history of medicine and reproductive health, while rooting for Hannah. I highly recommend Rubin's superb novel.
June 8, 2023
I enjoyed this book. The plot is fascinating and the characters are well developed. I thought that the book painted a vivid picture of turn-of-the century New York life and medicine. The book was well paced after getting off to a slow start. I also thought that the narrative was a little choppy. Overall, this was a good read. Thank you to Netgalley and Level Best Books for the digital review copy.
November 30, 2023
Spoilers: Some Historical Fiction novels are not necessarily about capturing the time period in which they are set. Well that's important as well. But they are written in response to current events. They show how these struggles started, why they are necessary, why people are still fighting for them, and why those who are against them fear accepting those rights. They remind us how far we have come and what still needs to be done.
It's hard to distance Jane Loeb Rubin’s novel, In The Hands of Women from the current events dealing with the controversies towards granting reproductive rights. It was certainly the nucleus of inspiration or at least a reminder of what was lost, gained, re-lost,and needs to be regained.
In the Hands of Women concerns Dr. Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician and suffragist in 1900 Baltimore and New York City. This situation is dour as many do not take her seriously. Some midwives are even performing illegal and badly performed abortions which seriously hurt the patients more than help. When a close friend dies in childbirth, Hannah decides to take action.
Hannah befriends Margaret Sanger, birth control advocate and founder of Planned Parenthood. Hannah joins Sanger on her crusade to provide contraceptives and safe early trimester abortions for patients, in defiance of the restrictive Comstock Laws. Unfortunately, after a patient that she is attending to dies from the results of a botched unsafe abortion, Hannah finds herself on trial for murder and is sent to the notorious Blackwell’s Island Prison.
In the Hands of Women has one foot set in the past and another foot set in the immediate present. The historical details of a female doctor's experience in the early 20th century are well written and researched. However, the themes are timeless and serve as a word of caution, a warning,maybe anger that we were not listening, and hope that we will.
Hannah's story is rich with details about the struggles that women had to go through (and some still do) to become and be taken seriously as doctors. Even though Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States in 1849, that was still a long way from accepting her younger successors into the medical establishment. Hannah is such an example.
Hannah is shoved to the sidelines by her male colleagues and is often mistaken for a nurse or a midwife. Many mock her ambitions and dismiss her medical advice. Even when her advice is proven right, either her colleagues take credit or the patient's husband or father downplay it. Even Hannah's husband who was at one time supportive of her drive and career turns against her and ignores her when her alliance with Sanger lands her in prison and threatens his reputation.
The patients often have it worse. Many of Hannah’s patients are overlooked by male doctors because “everyone has babies.” Hannah isn't always called in unless the situation is dire and by then it is often too late.
Some of the patients are teenage or younger aged girls who have been raped. Some have trouble giving birth having difficult labors that could kill them. Patients have had one too many children and really don't want another one but their husbands insist and some have had miscarriages or stillbirths that are treated like abortions.
Because of the bad treatment from many of the medical professionals, these women often turn to herbalists and midwives who have had very little training, don't always know what they are doing, and are careless when it comes to saving lives.
The book is filled with bloody surgeries, last minute life saving techniques, and terrified patients on their deathbeds or reduced to victims of PTSD because of the medical treatment. In one chapter, a woman undergoes a torturous abortion only to have a nervous breakdown and be institutionalized (and the mental health treatment is not any better so it is a certainty that she will continue to suffer). It is easy to see why Hannah wants to change things and while she and Sanger work to provide better reproductive care for women, why such a situation takes a long time to improve potentially not in Hannah's lifetime and certainly late into Sanger’s. When the entire establishment is at fault, change can take several generations.
While this is a book about the past, it is also a call to action for the present. Even now women's reproductive rights are threatened as Roe V. Wade was overturned in several states (though the recent election has resulted in potential changes in that). Many businesses and individuals question paying for contraceptives, wanting to end not only the means to terminate a pregnancy but the means to prevent it in the first place. Planned Parenthoods are forced to charge for services, threatened by demonstrators, and even forcibly shut down so cis and trans women can't always get the proper inexpensive health care that they need. The bad old days from In The Hands of Women are unfortunately not far behind us and could be in the immediate future if we are not vigilant.
In The Hands of Women is less of a historical fiction novel than it is simultaneously a savage look over what happened in the past when reproductive rights weren't granted and a warning of the potential dark future that could happen if they are denied once more.
It's hard to distance Jane Loeb Rubin’s novel, In The Hands of Women from the current events dealing with the controversies towards granting reproductive rights. It was certainly the nucleus of inspiration or at least a reminder of what was lost, gained, re-lost,and needs to be regained.
In the Hands of Women concerns Dr. Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician and suffragist in 1900 Baltimore and New York City. This situation is dour as many do not take her seriously. Some midwives are even performing illegal and badly performed abortions which seriously hurt the patients more than help. When a close friend dies in childbirth, Hannah decides to take action.
Hannah befriends Margaret Sanger, birth control advocate and founder of Planned Parenthood. Hannah joins Sanger on her crusade to provide contraceptives and safe early trimester abortions for patients, in defiance of the restrictive Comstock Laws. Unfortunately, after a patient that she is attending to dies from the results of a botched unsafe abortion, Hannah finds herself on trial for murder and is sent to the notorious Blackwell’s Island Prison.
In the Hands of Women has one foot set in the past and another foot set in the immediate present. The historical details of a female doctor's experience in the early 20th century are well written and researched. However, the themes are timeless and serve as a word of caution, a warning,maybe anger that we were not listening, and hope that we will.
Hannah's story is rich with details about the struggles that women had to go through (and some still do) to become and be taken seriously as doctors. Even though Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States in 1849, that was still a long way from accepting her younger successors into the medical establishment. Hannah is such an example.
Hannah is shoved to the sidelines by her male colleagues and is often mistaken for a nurse or a midwife. Many mock her ambitions and dismiss her medical advice. Even when her advice is proven right, either her colleagues take credit or the patient's husband or father downplay it. Even Hannah's husband who was at one time supportive of her drive and career turns against her and ignores her when her alliance with Sanger lands her in prison and threatens his reputation.
The patients often have it worse. Many of Hannah’s patients are overlooked by male doctors because “everyone has babies.” Hannah isn't always called in unless the situation is dire and by then it is often too late.
Some of the patients are teenage or younger aged girls who have been raped. Some have trouble giving birth having difficult labors that could kill them. Patients have had one too many children and really don't want another one but their husbands insist and some have had miscarriages or stillbirths that are treated like abortions.
Because of the bad treatment from many of the medical professionals, these women often turn to herbalists and midwives who have had very little training, don't always know what they are doing, and are careless when it comes to saving lives.
The book is filled with bloody surgeries, last minute life saving techniques, and terrified patients on their deathbeds or reduced to victims of PTSD because of the medical treatment. In one chapter, a woman undergoes a torturous abortion only to have a nervous breakdown and be institutionalized (and the mental health treatment is not any better so it is a certainty that she will continue to suffer). It is easy to see why Hannah wants to change things and while she and Sanger work to provide better reproductive care for women, why such a situation takes a long time to improve potentially not in Hannah's lifetime and certainly late into Sanger’s. When the entire establishment is at fault, change can take several generations.
While this is a book about the past, it is also a call to action for the present. Even now women's reproductive rights are threatened as Roe V. Wade was overturned in several states (though the recent election has resulted in potential changes in that). Many businesses and individuals question paying for contraceptives, wanting to end not only the means to terminate a pregnancy but the means to prevent it in the first place. Planned Parenthoods are forced to charge for services, threatened by demonstrators, and even forcibly shut down so cis and trans women can't always get the proper inexpensive health care that they need. The bad old days from In The Hands of Women are unfortunately not far behind us and could be in the immediate future if we are not vigilant.
In The Hands of Women is less of a historical fiction novel than it is simultaneously a savage look over what happened in the past when reproductive rights weren't granted and a warning of the potential dark future that could happen if they are denied once more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2023
This was my first historical fiction read ever and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I didn’t want to put it down and wanted to read it every chance I could! The author did a great job of transporting you back in time for this story! Thank you to Netgalley and Level Best Books for the digital review copy.
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