Book Review: When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice

In Europe, 1848 was the year of revolutions, where people in more than 50 countries were engaged in socioeconomic conflicts. In the United States, the revolt may have started slowly, with a mysterious knocking sound in rural western New York, and lasted longer. Out of weird rapping noises—that supposedly allowed the dead to speak—came the Spiritualist movement. And it was mostly controlled by women.

Ilise S. Carter, author of When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice, takes a historic look into the movement and what it begat.

Spiritualism’s central idea is that the human spirit lived on after the mortal remains died and that spirits could communicate with us through mediums. In an era of high mortality rates and the horror of the Civil War, the movement flourished. With its popularity on the stage circuit in the late 19^th century, however, fraudulent actors tarnished the movement’s reputation. That led to the defining doctrine, the Principles of Spiritualism. About 100 Spiritualist churches and camps still exist in the United States.

Carter’s book covers spiritualism’s connections to reform, including anti-slavery, women’s rights, and suffrage. She includes stories of known spiritualists (Maggie & Kate Fox, patent medicine maker Lydia Pinkham, Mae West), believers (First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), and critics (Harry Houdini), as well as trivia about Disney’s Haunted Mansion and the Ouija board.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the ARC.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American WomenTheir Voice
by Ilise S. Carter
Sourcebooks 2025

Book review: Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us

In her first memoir, She’s Not There (2003), Jennifer Finney Boylan takes us from childhood through the process of transitioning into a woman. And in the end, the reader is left with the same question that faces Jenny: What about her marriage?

In Cleavage, the author is in her 60s and looking back at her life, as a boy, man, husband, father, trans woman. The memories are so vivid and perfectly preserved in two genders. The disassociation of being a girl in a boy’s body somehow does not destroy or diminish those experiences, like attending an all-boys private high school, dating, marrying Deedee and having two children, living by the lake in Maine, and making bread. Boylan is surrounded by a supportive community and loving family and friends.

As a professor and public figure, there’s little sense of conflict, antagonism, or anti-trans sentiment. It made me wonder, was Boylan holding back negative moments? Or was this book’s intention a celebration of their life? But then, there’s this line that echoes through me, especially now: “I am practicing how not to get beaten within an inch of my life.”

Boylan writes about the societal pressures of being a woman, of being lesser than: the voice of uncertainty, the immature vocabulary, the salad instead of steak. It’s oddly disconcerting when she starts obsessing over weight. Boylan also covers trans conventions, voice lessons, passing as female, that in between space, and the privilege of being trans—the expensive surgeries and procedures available only to people above a certain tax bracket.

In the end, I felt like I was invited into Jenny’s world, though I also wanted to sit at the counter to watch the breadmaking and then bite into a slice.

Thanks to Celadon Books for the ARC.

rating: ★★★★

Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us
by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Celadon Books, 2025

Book review: Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion

Sophie Saint Thomas’ latest book tackles reproductive rights, systemic injustices, and lack of bodily autonomy issues for women throughout the ages. According to an old medical papyrus, she writes, it’s been proven that ancient Egyptians used birth control and emmenagogues or abortifacients. Through withdrawal, suppositories, barrier methods, and nature’s own herbal pharmacy, earlier peoples learned by trial and error how to limit or encourage pregnancies as needed.

While misogyny certainly existed back then, it grew exponentially with the Roman Empire converting to Christianity—and controlled by (purportedly) celibate, cloistered men. After all, German monk Martin Luther (95 Theses) said “let [women] bear children to death. … They were created for that.” Although Catholic church policy was against birth control, some leaders like Saint Augustine of Hippo believed abortion was acceptable before a clearly human shape formed or the “ensoulment” of a fetus occurred.

For witches, Saint Thomas includes French midwife, abortion provider, and fortuneteller Catherine Monvoisin, who also provided deadly poisons and performed Black Masses for her clients. She was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1680. In more modern times, Laurie Cabot (b. 1933) was designated the Official Witch of Salem in 1977 by the Massachusetts governor.

For witch hunts, Saint Thomas relies on Stacy Schiff’s The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem—a book lambasted by Jane Kamensky in the New York Times—causing her to repeat debunked information. For example, trial documents refer to Tituba as an Indian servant. After being released from jail, she disappears from the historical record. She later becomes known as Tituba the Black Witch of Salem. Saint Thomas says, “this indicates that she was associated with black magic … [but] it could also have a more straightforward explanation: her skin color.” Fifty years ago, Chadwick Hansen proved that Tituba’s metamorphosis from an Indian to a Black person occurred and was based on prevalent 19th-century racism, which in turn made Tituba the scapegoat for the Salem witch trials (New England Quarterly, March 1974).

For centuries, witches have been associated with Satan, since the (female) witch’s power comes from her pact with the (male) Devil. Between Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Saint Thomas shows how wild ideas about devil-worshipping sex groups, Black Masses, and child sacrifices became rampant in the news.

And that’s how the Christian right uses Americans’ fears to demonize any person or movement supporting reproductive rights.

Written in a pop-history style, Saint Thomas makes accessible 4,000 years of health care. With Roe v. Wade overturned in 2022, reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2024. The difference between Republican and Democratic platforms are starkly different. As a reminder, Saint Thomas points out that Justice Samuel Alito cited 17th-century jurist Matthew Hale when announcing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. “Hale asserted that marital rape could not constitute a crime.” 

Your vote matters.

rating: ★★★★

Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion
by Sophie Saint Thomas
Running Press 

Book review: Men Have Called Her Crazy

Men Have Called Her Crazy begins with Anna Marie Tendler’s arrival at an inpatient psychiatric hospital. After five years with her therapist, the two have come to an impasse. By taking a more intensive approach to her mental health, Anna discovers her therapist’s evaluation of her intense suicidal ideation, self-harm, and disordered eating is much more nuanced than that.

Anna’s forthright manner makes the reader comfortable with the in-patient setting. She not only explains what goes on in the admittance process, for example, but why it’s necessary. After all, readers are curious! She describes what the daily structure is like and how patients interact within this bubble. So it is not something terrifying like Girl, Interrupted nor a luxury detox rehab.

Anna arrives at the medical campus angry and distrustful of men following a failed marriage. She refuses to live in a co-ed dorm and eating meals with men makes her uncomfortable. Most of her doctors are men, however, and as Anna correctly explains, the standard for modern psychology is based on straight, white, cis-gendered males. Using clinical testing techniques in a live-in setting—and most importantly, explaining their conclusions to Anna—the doctors help Anna start to rebuild her foundation. And while her experience is generally positive, it’s a harsh reminder of how doctors—and men in general—oversimplify the complexities that women present, often with little context.

Part of dealing with psychological issues is confronting the past. Anna weaves in scenes from her traumatic childhood, age-inappropriate exploits, artistic endeavors and failures, lavish parties with a condescending millionaire, and hanging around Hollywood sets. Men are featured as vignettes that explain her psyche, while her nameless ex-husband hovers in the book’s shadows.

By writing her memoir, Anna regains her own power. Throughout it all, she relies on the strengths of her female friendships and the love for her dog Petunia. She chooses the narrative—instead of letting the tabloids do it.

rating: ★★★★★

Men Have Called Her Crazy
by Anna Marie Tendler
Simon & Schuster

Book review: Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials

In Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials, Marion Gibson argues that witch trials from the late Medieval period to today were motivated not by the Bible but by demonology.

While the Bible does say “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (KJV, Exodus 22:18), it doesn't offer much detail. Demonologies, however, mostly focused on women—the weaker sex—succumbing to the forked-tongue lies of Satan’s minions. Misogyny was rampant, especially in male-dominated arenas like religion and government. Over the last 700 years, the most common trait of a witch was being female (though not all the accused were).

As Gibson discusses, German churchman and demonologist Heinrich Kramer (c. 1430-1505) failed in his first attempt to destroy the “witches” of Innsbruck, Austria. But afterward, he wrote the exceptionally popular Malleus Maleficarum in 1487, also known as The Hammer of Witches. By 1600, about 45 demonology titles were published in Western Europe, including one by King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). These books were widely circulated among churchmen, rulers, the upper classes, and scholars—including Judge William Stoughton and ministers Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris, all of whom influenced the Salem witch trials in 1692.

For the Salem story, Gibson focuses on “Tatabe,” Parris’ Indian servant who had a prominent but short-lived role early in the Salem witch trials. Under duress, Tituba (falsely) confessed to practicing witchcraft but was not executed, while the ones who claimed their innocence at trial were. Instead of the power of Tituba’s testimony and its many parallels to British witchcraft beliefs, Gibson concentrates on the hypothetical Arawak birth story from Elaine Breslaw’s Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem. Highlighting those parallels would have helped to debunk the voodoo myths surrounding Tituba, often told by misguided writers and tour guides who haven’t delved into the original records.

Thirteen Trials includes cases from Europe, Africa, and the Americas, covering a wide variety of situations, cultures, and time periods. It’s a fascinating read, with each history connected to the underlying premise of misogyny and violence against women.

Today, in Salem and elsewhere, “people who have redefined witchcraft and embraced the identity of ‘witch’” embody the medieval demonologists’ worst nightmares (ch. 13).

rating: ★★★★

Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
by Marion Gibson
Scribner Book Company

Book review: The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love

An English professor, author Rachel Feder loves Pride and Prejudice. Yet she acknowledges, as far as first impressions go, Darcy is a jerk. He considers himself socially superior to the locals—which he is, financially, even though he lacks tact. Within earshot, he disparages Elizabeth Bennett’s appearance and her scarcity of dance partners. And yet Darcy fascinates Lizzy. So, what is it that causes us—the reader—to swoon over Darcy with her?

Feder questions Darcy’s status as a romantic hero and whether Jane Austen (1775-1817) even considered him worthy of love. Throughout The Darcy Myth, she tackles why we become attracted to the Darcy archetype in books, on screen, and in real life.

Feder provides helpful sidebars, such as “Meet a Darcy” (name, turn-ons, turn-offs, and highlights), “Signs You Might Be Trying to Reform a Rake,” “Nerd Notes,” and a Darcy vs. Heathcliff smackdown.

With smart humor, Taylor Swift references, and even classified ad advice, Feder explores late 18th-century romance and marriages (and its link to economic security and social standing) to today. From literary novels to Bridgerton, The Bachelor, and other contemporary storylines, she then asks us: Do we need to reexamine our romantic heroes? Does true love have to follow the enemies-to-lovers story arc? Do we have the strength to break the power that literary heartthrobs and monsters have over us?

The Darcy Myth is a fascinating, entertaining read. Now if only I could attend Feder’s classes.

rating: ★★★★

The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love

by Rachel Feder

Quirk Books