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The Apothecary's Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How It Became a Commodity
A groundbreaking genealogy of for-profit healthcare and an urgent reminder that centering women's history offers vital opportunities for shaping the future.
The running joke in Europe for centuries was that anyone in a hurry to die should call the doctor. As far back as ancient Greece, physicians were notorious for administering painful and often fatal treatments—and charging for the privilege. For the most effective treatment, the ill and injured went to the women in their lives. This system lasted hundreds of years. It was gone in less than a century.
Contrary to the familiar story, medication did not improve during the Scientific Revolution. Yet somehow, between 1650 and 1740, the domestic female and the physician switched places in the cultural she became the ineffective, potentially dangerous quack, he the knowledgeable, trustworthy expert. The professionals normalized the idea of paying them for what people already got at home without charge, laying the foundation for Big Pharma and today’s global for-profit medication system. A revelatory history of medicine, The Apothecary’s Wife challenges the myths of the triumph of science and instead uncovers the fascinating truth. Drawing on a vast body of archival material, Karen Bloom Gevirtz depicts the extraordinary cast of characters who brought about this transformation. She also explores domestic medicine’s values in responses to modern health crises, such as the eradication of smallpox, and what benefits we can learn from these events.
The running joke in Europe for centuries was that anyone in a hurry to die should call the doctor. As far back as ancient Greece, physicians were notorious for administering painful and often fatal treatments—and charging for the privilege. For the most effective treatment, the ill and injured went to the women in their lives. This system lasted hundreds of years. It was gone in less than a century.
Contrary to the familiar story, medication did not improve during the Scientific Revolution. Yet somehow, between 1650 and 1740, the domestic female and the physician switched places in the cultural she became the ineffective, potentially dangerous quack, he the knowledgeable, trustworthy expert. The professionals normalized the idea of paying them for what people already got at home without charge, laying the foundation for Big Pharma and today’s global for-profit medication system. A revelatory history of medicine, The Apothecary’s Wife challenges the myths of the triumph of science and instead uncovers the fascinating truth. Drawing on a vast body of archival material, Karen Bloom Gevirtz depicts the extraordinary cast of characters who brought about this transformation. She also explores domestic medicine’s values in responses to modern health crises, such as the eradication of smallpox, and what benefits we can learn from these events.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 19, 2024
46 people are currently reading
908 people want to read
About the author
Karen Bloom Gevirtz
11 books4 followersScholar of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British texts of all kinds, specializing in gender, History of Science, and History of Medicine. Former full professor of English, Gender Studies and Medical Humanities. Loves astronomy, fun socks, and the smell of herbs in the sunshine.
"A lively medical, scientific, and economic history." -- Kirkus Review
THE APOTHECARY'S WIFE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND HOW IT BECAME A COMMODITY is one of Kirkus Review's "Best Nonfiction Books of 2024"!
THE APOTHECARY'S WIFE is available on Bookshop.org, Amazon, and at your local indepedent bookstore! On shelves in November 2024 from Head of Zeus/University of California Press.
"A lively medical, scientific, and economic history." -- Kirkus Review
THE APOTHECARY'S WIFE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND HOW IT BECAME A COMMODITY is one of Kirkus Review's "Best Nonfiction Books of 2024"!
THE APOTHECARY'S WIFE is available on Bookshop.org, Amazon, and at your local indepedent bookstore! On shelves in November 2024 from Head of Zeus/University of California Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 29, 2024
I'm sorry but this is a DNF for me.
This book is heavy on modern feminism preaching. The author is looking at history through the lenses of modern feminism, interpreting everything by modern standards. This is exactly what we should not be doing. Here's a quote:
"That is not to say that print culture in England ignores women, far from it. Male authors are writing books for women, some of them explaining how to do domestic things (mansplaining in print began early)." - Mansplaining? Males were writing books, because they were better educated, so they were considered better writers, they had better access to things like paper, ink, and quail. And whatś more important they had more free time than women, so I wouldn`t say it's the mansplaining case here.
Another quote:
"William Jervis's -A Choice Manual- became an early salvo in the war against women for control of pharmaceutical knowledge and distribution. He acknowledged the power and authority traditionally granted women, their recipes, and their recipe books, but only to diminish them by sexualizing women's knowledge, by making it exotic and rare, and by nudging it into the male domain. He also branded the expert knowledge of food and medicine preparation in the book (which had been communal) as something secret that he had the responsibility to unlock - and to charge for."
William Jervis has printed the Countess of Kent recipe book titled: A Choice Manual of Rare and Select Secrets in Physick and Chyrurgery Collected and Practised by the Right Honourable, the Countesse of Kent, Late Deceased. We don´t know why he decided to print it. Maybe he was motivated by money, maybe he wanted to share valuable knowledge. We don't know, but to say it was the beginning of WAR against women is way too far. What control? Sexualizing knowledge? What? Later in the book, we see more of this... I don't know, let's say fact interpretations and overinterpretations.
I'm sorry but this is not what I expected at all. I was hoping to see history, domestic life, and women in the past.
This book is heavy on modern feminism preaching. The author is looking at history through the lenses of modern feminism, interpreting everything by modern standards. This is exactly what we should not be doing. Here's a quote:
"That is not to say that print culture in England ignores women, far from it. Male authors are writing books for women, some of them explaining how to do domestic things (mansplaining in print began early)." - Mansplaining? Males were writing books, because they were better educated, so they were considered better writers, they had better access to things like paper, ink, and quail. And whatś more important they had more free time than women, so I wouldn`t say it's the mansplaining case here.
Another quote:
"William Jervis's -A Choice Manual- became an early salvo in the war against women for control of pharmaceutical knowledge and distribution. He acknowledged the power and authority traditionally granted women, their recipes, and their recipe books, but only to diminish them by sexualizing women's knowledge, by making it exotic and rare, and by nudging it into the male domain. He also branded the expert knowledge of food and medicine preparation in the book (which had been communal) as something secret that he had the responsibility to unlock - and to charge for."
William Jervis has printed the Countess of Kent recipe book titled: A Choice Manual of Rare and Select Secrets in Physick and Chyrurgery Collected and Practised by the Right Honourable, the Countesse of Kent, Late Deceased. We don´t know why he decided to print it. Maybe he was motivated by money, maybe he wanted to share valuable knowledge. We don't know, but to say it was the beginning of WAR against women is way too far. What control? Sexualizing knowledge? What? Later in the book, we see more of this... I don't know, let's say fact interpretations and overinterpretations.
I'm sorry but this is not what I expected at all. I was hoping to see history, domestic life, and women in the past.
August 3, 2024
medicine.
Before modern medicine, what existed? The answer was ‘recipes’ handed down from mother to daughter. These recipes the result of trial and error, where a remedy that worked was worth recording. Intriguing, many of these herbal or herbaceous remedies had their roots (excuse the pun) in efficacy. For example, willow bark was administered for pain relief; and willow bark contains acetyl salicylic acid – better known as aspirin.
Ms Gevirtz reveals a fascinating world where, pre Scientific Revolution, these recipes were considered public property. Women gladly helped neighbours and the wider community, and shared their recipes to do this. This is contrasted later in the book with the discovery and patenting of insulin – available only to those that can afford it.
Ms Gervirtz charts how healing undertaken by women for free, was usurped by men who took medicines out of the kitchen and into the laboratory. As a result of the Scientific Revolution, by the mid 1770s the kitchen garden belonged to women, whilst the physic garden was a male preserve. As men began to realise they could make money from medicine, what had been free now cost money. Medicine had become a commodity. And to protect that commodity men further disenfranchised the female healers by the use of technical language and prescriptions written in cyphers.
But please don’t misunderstand. This is not a feminist or man-hating book. It is an account of a fascinating period in history when there was a seed change from free, community healing, to medicine for those that could pay.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending this readable book, perhaps best summed up in the words of William Harvey “What was once a science is now a trade.”
ARC received in exchange for an honest, unbiased review
Before modern medicine, what existed? The answer was ‘recipes’ handed down from mother to daughter. These recipes the result of trial and error, where a remedy that worked was worth recording. Intriguing, many of these herbal or herbaceous remedies had their roots (excuse the pun) in efficacy. For example, willow bark was administered for pain relief; and willow bark contains acetyl salicylic acid – better known as aspirin.
Ms Gevirtz reveals a fascinating world where, pre Scientific Revolution, these recipes were considered public property. Women gladly helped neighbours and the wider community, and shared their recipes to do this. This is contrasted later in the book with the discovery and patenting of insulin – available only to those that can afford it.
Ms Gervirtz charts how healing undertaken by women for free, was usurped by men who took medicines out of the kitchen and into the laboratory. As a result of the Scientific Revolution, by the mid 1770s the kitchen garden belonged to women, whilst the physic garden was a male preserve. As men began to realise they could make money from medicine, what had been free now cost money. Medicine had become a commodity. And to protect that commodity men further disenfranchised the female healers by the use of technical language and prescriptions written in cyphers.
But please don’t misunderstand. This is not a feminist or man-hating book. It is an account of a fascinating period in history when there was a seed change from free, community healing, to medicine for those that could pay.
I have no hesitation in highly recommending this readable book, perhaps best summed up in the words of William Harvey “What was once a science is now a trade.”
ARC received in exchange for an honest, unbiased review
December 31, 2024
Really 3.5 stars as I got lost in the names and details a lot at first. Overall, well researched, kind of reads like a masters thesis or doctoral project. Particularly liked Part 2 which takes the historical trends in England from Part 1 and interprets them for recent medications in a Europe and the US.
June 11, 2025
This was quite an interesting book, and I will admit Bloom Gevirtz had me enamored of her as soon as she used the phrase, “Reader, she married him.”
Historically, maladies would be treated by the female head of household with various concoctions whose receipts (or, recipes) would have been passed down from mother to daughter or aunt to niece or friend to friend. Most literate women had a notebook full of various receipts not only for salves, ointments, and medications, but also tasty dishes to feed one’s family. Women would share receipts, often having their friend inscribe their own receipt into her notebook. At this time, healing was a given, with medications shared freely, with no cost associated with it.
And then men realized they could commodify medications, and healing was taken out of the kitchen and women’s spaces and into apothecary shops and doctors’ offices. What was freely given now was being charged for. Instead of asking your mother or grandmother or landlady for a salve or nostrum for your ailment, you’d go to an apothecary and describe the symptoms and hope you could afford the medication — and hope the medication didn’t end up doing more harm than good.
I don’t find this a particularly feminist book, or one that ascribes more feminist thought than a woman of the ear would experience. There are enough examples across time that show that many women believed they weren’t getting a fair shake, that they were far smarter than they were given credit for, and they understood that the system that placed men above them in all cases shouldn’t be a matter of course.
My issue with this book, however, is the last sections of Part 1, in which Bloom Gevirtz describes how apothecaries and then doctors slowly took over prescribing medicines. There are so many names and dates and events, and it became difficult to keep track of everything. That said, I still shudder when I think of poor Venetia Stanley Digby and how her brain liquefied before she died, thanks to a stroke. Yikes.
Historically, maladies would be treated by the female head of household with various concoctions whose receipts (or, recipes) would have been passed down from mother to daughter or aunt to niece or friend to friend. Most literate women had a notebook full of various receipts not only for salves, ointments, and medications, but also tasty dishes to feed one’s family. Women would share receipts, often having their friend inscribe their own receipt into her notebook. At this time, healing was a given, with medications shared freely, with no cost associated with it.
And then men realized they could commodify medications, and healing was taken out of the kitchen and women’s spaces and into apothecary shops and doctors’ offices. What was freely given now was being charged for. Instead of asking your mother or grandmother or landlady for a salve or nostrum for your ailment, you’d go to an apothecary and describe the symptoms and hope you could afford the medication — and hope the medication didn’t end up doing more harm than good.
I don’t find this a particularly feminist book, or one that ascribes more feminist thought than a woman of the ear would experience. There are enough examples across time that show that many women believed they weren’t getting a fair shake, that they were far smarter than they were given credit for, and they understood that the system that placed men above them in all cases shouldn’t be a matter of course.
My issue with this book, however, is the last sections of Part 1, in which Bloom Gevirtz describes how apothecaries and then doctors slowly took over prescribing medicines. There are so many names and dates and events, and it became difficult to keep track of everything. That said, I still shudder when I think of poor Venetia Stanley Digby and how her brain liquefied before she died, thanks to a stroke. Yikes.
April 7, 2025
The content of this book was so interesting; I wish I enjoyed reading it more. Unfortunately, I felt that the text was overburdened with names and book titles that, while demonstrating an impressive amount of research, didn't add to my experience as a reader. I was fascinated by things like how recipes for home remedies got replaced with physicians prescriptions (usually of the same substance, or something worse), how kitchens became distinct from laboratories, and how women generally were pushed out of their own area of expertise by capitalism. I enjoyed the discussion of why medicine was once accessible to all, and the events that ensured it is no longer so. However, I can't help but be frustrated by the choppiness of the book: stories were interrupted with tangential narratives occurring years earlier or later, unfamiliar historical were referenced with little to no explanation of who they were, and I felt like I needed to take notes to keep track of the timeline. If I had more extensive knowledge of the 17th and 18th centuries, maybe these references wouldn't have felt so jarring, but alas...
However, I'd still recommend the book, just so that I could have someone to talk about it with. Super interesting stuff and a great modern-day conclusion.
However, I'd still recommend the book, just so that I could have someone to talk about it with. Super interesting stuff and a great modern-day conclusion.
December 31, 2024
The book delves into the fascinating story of how eighteenth-century women incorporated the Scientific Revolution into their daily lives, shedding light on the pivotal role they played in transforming the way people approached medicine. It also explores how the Scientific Revolution catalyzed the shift from homemade remedies to professionally prescribed medications, a transformation that had far-reaching consequences for the healthcare system.
For centuries, the notion that anyone in a hurry to die should call the doctor was a running joke in Europe. Historically, physicians were notorious for administering painful and often fatal treatments and charging handsomely for their services. In contrast, women in people's lives were often the go-to source for effective treatments. This system persisted for hundreds of years before being replaced in less than a century.
The book reveals that the Scientific Revolution fundamentally altered the concept of medicine, transforming it from a household item to a commodity to be bought and sold. This shift led to the development of a for-profit healthcare system, which replaced the traditional system of women's domestic medicine. The current system is not natural, eternal, or inevitable; rather, it was created by people making specific choices and taking certain actions.
This book is not only a history of medicine but also an examination of the economic system that emerged around the circulation of medications as commodities. It is a critical analysis of one aspect of the development of Western capitalism, which has multiple strains.
The author is not anti-science, anti-medication, or anti-"modern" medications. Instead, the book offers a nuanced understanding of the past and its relevance to the present, allowing readers to make informed choices about the healthcare system.
The book is written in an accessible and engaging style, making it an enjoyable read for anyone interested in history, medicine, or the social and economic context of healthcare.
For centuries, the notion that anyone in a hurry to die should call the doctor was a running joke in Europe. Historically, physicians were notorious for administering painful and often fatal treatments and charging handsomely for their services. In contrast, women in people's lives were often the go-to source for effective treatments. This system persisted for hundreds of years before being replaced in less than a century.
The book reveals that the Scientific Revolution fundamentally altered the concept of medicine, transforming it from a household item to a commodity to be bought and sold. This shift led to the development of a for-profit healthcare system, which replaced the traditional system of women's domestic medicine. The current system is not natural, eternal, or inevitable; rather, it was created by people making specific choices and taking certain actions.
This book is not only a history of medicine but also an examination of the economic system that emerged around the circulation of medications as commodities. It is a critical analysis of one aspect of the development of Western capitalism, which has multiple strains.
The author is not anti-science, anti-medication, or anti-"modern" medications. Instead, the book offers a nuanced understanding of the past and its relevance to the present, allowing readers to make informed choices about the healthcare system.
The book is written in an accessible and engaging style, making it an enjoyable read for anyone interested in history, medicine, or the social and economic context of healthcare.
November 25, 2024
My research is medical history 17th century London. This was great for the general public, tons of primary sources. From an academic standpoint I would have loved more direct citations. It wasn’t that I disagreed with her analysis or conclusion but that I wanted to see which exact sources she was using to make those specific conclusions and I wanted to see more of her analytical process. But definitely some good ideas I can incorporate into my own research.
February 21, 2025
Interesting to hear how women shaped the field of medicine into what it is today, but how they were also pushed out of it.
October 20, 2024
A fascinating account of the development of medicine in the 1600s and 1700s. The usurping of the pivotal role women played in medicine and healing to the boy’s club mentality that took over. Very interesting historical record. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.
October 28, 2024
Growing up, most individuals are likely to have received medical advice from a family member, friend, colleague, or acquaintance. My grand-mother’s advice for promoting bowel movements was to dissolve a teaspoon of Epsom salts into a shot of tea. My mother’s advice for a stye of the eye was to rub a gold ring on it. A cousin’s advice for abdominal cramping was to apply castor oil to the abdomen, wrap yourself in gladwrap, place a towel over the top, and lastly, apply heat. We may not have the same sort of medicinal recipes that get handed down from generation to generation, but some of the anecdotal advice certainly does. I have always been, however, skeptical of such advice. But, then I will go to a doctor (a complete stranger) and take medications containing ingredients I know nothing about, for an illness that I may or may not have. Previously, I haven’t given this topic much thought. But, my latest book, The Apothecary’s Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How it Became a Commodity by Karen Bloom Gevirtz has certainly got me pondering this very topic. A huge thank you to Head of Zeus and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.
Bloom Gevirtz starts the reader's journey with the discovery of a book at Chawton House. The beautiful Chawton House – a stunning Elizabethan manor house that belonged to Jane Austen’s brother Edward. In fact, Jane, her sister Cassandra, and their mother, lived just down the road at what is now known as the Jane Austen House Museum. Apart from its Austen links though, Chawton House is also home to a library which contains a large and unique collection of women’s writing from the 17th to 19th centuries. It is in this library where Bloom Gevirtz discovers a text which gives the inspiration for this book.
Throughout The Apothecary’s Wife, readers learn, or are reminded of, the vast changes and developments that have occurred in the field of medicine; including the creation, sharing, and management of recipes/medicines. Bloom Gevirtz draws on a plethora of primary and secondary sources to piece together the journey medicines have taken from being primarily managed by women in the household and shared throughout communities and passed down the generations, to being privatised, hidden, and, in many cases unavailable to countless individuals who could benefit from it.
This book is well written, thoroughly researched, and is certainly food for thought. For fellow lovers of the Tudor and Regency periods, these both make appearances within the study as well. The Apothecary’s Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How it Became a Commodity by Karen Bloom Gevirtz is a fascinating look at the history of medicine. I would recommend this book to individuals with an interest in women’s history, and the history of medicine.
Bloom Gevirtz starts the reader's journey with the discovery of a book at Chawton House. The beautiful Chawton House – a stunning Elizabethan manor house that belonged to Jane Austen’s brother Edward. In fact, Jane, her sister Cassandra, and their mother, lived just down the road at what is now known as the Jane Austen House Museum. Apart from its Austen links though, Chawton House is also home to a library which contains a large and unique collection of women’s writing from the 17th to 19th centuries. It is in this library where Bloom Gevirtz discovers a text which gives the inspiration for this book.
Throughout The Apothecary’s Wife, readers learn, or are reminded of, the vast changes and developments that have occurred in the field of medicine; including the creation, sharing, and management of recipes/medicines. Bloom Gevirtz draws on a plethora of primary and secondary sources to piece together the journey medicines have taken from being primarily managed by women in the household and shared throughout communities and passed down the generations, to being privatised, hidden, and, in many cases unavailable to countless individuals who could benefit from it.
This book is well written, thoroughly researched, and is certainly food for thought. For fellow lovers of the Tudor and Regency periods, these both make appearances within the study as well. The Apothecary’s Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How it Became a Commodity by Karen Bloom Gevirtz is a fascinating look at the history of medicine. I would recommend this book to individuals with an interest in women’s history, and the history of medicine.
June 14, 2024
Conceptionally this is a well written book, with an interesting focal topic. As someone who is both female, and works in the medical profession after studying an msc in genomic medicine, I was immediately eager to see what light this book would shed on female involvement in medicine through the ages.
The author is the perfect person for this job and her passion for this topic clearly shows through the writing; Karen Gevirtz specialises in the history of science and medicine (alongside gender studies). I was intrigued to see what her proffessional background brought to the topic and wasn't disappointed. It's clear that the author has done her research well; leaning on a variety of different materials created by both men and woman (so as to give an unbiased view). It's also important to note that this book is not trying to be against men, or our current medical system, rather is just sharing the journey and story of woman's involvement in medicine. It is a non-judgemental read, that doesn't advocate for one thing or the other which makes it an easier pill to swallow (sorry, couldn't resist!). There are some areas that I felt unsure on, but the author is clear on advising that 'the book is mine, the history is shared, and the choices are yours.' - I enjoyed forming my own opinions on the evidence that she presented and she includes references at the back.
My only bugbear is a personal one and shouldn't dissaude you from reading; I'm used to reading these kind of topics from a more medical standpoint, and I feel this leans more towards history/story telling style of writing which made it hard for me to engage at points. I think this will appeal to a greater variety of readers however; those who don't tend to read factual books will appreciate the ease and story telling beauty with which Karen explains the topics, and those who are interested in science, are presented with a great starting board to then go delve off more deeply into areas that interest them.
Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.
The author is the perfect person for this job and her passion for this topic clearly shows through the writing; Karen Gevirtz specialises in the history of science and medicine (alongside gender studies). I was intrigued to see what her proffessional background brought to the topic and wasn't disappointed. It's clear that the author has done her research well; leaning on a variety of different materials created by both men and woman (so as to give an unbiased view). It's also important to note that this book is not trying to be against men, or our current medical system, rather is just sharing the journey and story of woman's involvement in medicine. It is a non-judgemental read, that doesn't advocate for one thing or the other which makes it an easier pill to swallow (sorry, couldn't resist!). There are some areas that I felt unsure on, but the author is clear on advising that 'the book is mine, the history is shared, and the choices are yours.' - I enjoyed forming my own opinions on the evidence that she presented and she includes references at the back.
My only bugbear is a personal one and shouldn't dissaude you from reading; I'm used to reading these kind of topics from a more medical standpoint, and I feel this leans more towards history/story telling style of writing which made it hard for me to engage at points. I think this will appeal to a greater variety of readers however; those who don't tend to read factual books will appreciate the ease and story telling beauty with which Karen explains the topics, and those who are interested in science, are presented with a great starting board to then go delve off more deeply into areas that interest them.
Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.
February 28, 2025
If you think no relevant insights about health care can be gained by poring over texts hundreds of years old--then I dare you to read this book.
I hadn't gotten far before I stumbled upon a reference to: I Secreti de La Signora Isabella Cortese. a book published in 1561 with instructions for compounding medications, making perfume and performing alchemy.
I had to ask myself: Who was this La Signora Isabella Cortese? She must have practiced some powerful magic indeed to have gotten herself published way back in the dark ages. Literally. And could La Signora Isabella Cortese be related to Irene Cortese--the research neurologist who gave me my first lumbar puncture at the NIH?
I went down that rabbit hole—and got myself a bunny.
Dr. Cortese responded to my email inquiry with a photograph her dad had taken from her home library: the title page of I Secreti de La Signora Isabella Cortese, In Venetia, appreffo Giovanni, Bariletto MDLXL
Awe! These two researchers are indeed related!
Author Karen Bloom Gevirtz went down many rabbit holes spanning many centuries to trace the evolution of health care.
For those of you who are wondering how exactly health care came to be so awful I'll sum it up this way: when the men stole it from the ladies.
Or to put it more diplomatically:
Health care is at its best when treatments are shared communally and is at its worst when it is treated as commodity.
P.S. Dear K B G if this review gets your book banned...
You're welcome.
I hadn't gotten far before I stumbled upon a reference to: I Secreti de La Signora Isabella Cortese. a book published in 1561 with instructions for compounding medications, making perfume and performing alchemy.
I had to ask myself: Who was this La Signora Isabella Cortese? She must have practiced some powerful magic indeed to have gotten herself published way back in the dark ages. Literally. And could La Signora Isabella Cortese be related to Irene Cortese--the research neurologist who gave me my first lumbar puncture at the NIH?
I went down that rabbit hole—and got myself a bunny.
Dr. Cortese responded to my email inquiry with a photograph her dad had taken from her home library: the title page of I Secreti de La Signora Isabella Cortese, In Venetia, appreffo Giovanni, Bariletto MDLXL
Awe! These two researchers are indeed related!
Author Karen Bloom Gevirtz went down many rabbit holes spanning many centuries to trace the evolution of health care.
For those of you who are wondering how exactly health care came to be so awful I'll sum it up this way: when the men stole it from the ladies.
Or to put it more diplomatically:
Health care is at its best when treatments are shared communally and is at its worst when it is treated as commodity.
P.S. Dear K B G if this review gets your book banned...
You're welcome.
Read
June 12, 2025I thought this book was very informative and I loved learning about the history of medicine. The only critique I have is that after the first few chapters, the text gets very wordy. This is because the author is talking about all these books produced by all these men. The problem is that the titles of these books are LONG and the author often lists ALL the books. This makes the text difficult to read and pay attention too. The author also uses a lot of quotes from books and letters. This would be fine if the quotes were short but they often take up a majority of the text. I understand the point of all of this is to show the changing processes of medicine and how people treated it, but it just makes the book difficult to read. Other than that, this book was amazing to read and I loved learning about how medicine was taken from women to be a men only thing.
September 13, 2024
I absolutely loved this book. I loved how it took us all the way back to the beginning of apothecary with examples of what people would use.
I could not put this down as there is just so much information to indulge on.
I love everything related to the medical field as I am a nurse myself. This books takes us on a lovely trip back in time, making us realise how lucky we are that people back then tried and tested things to figure out what could help.
This book was accessible, engaging and written in a nice way that captivated me. I think that this book will please people who love history and medicine blended in together. Everything was explained in a comprehensive way and the examples along the way enhanced the journey in time.
I would definitely recommend this book.
I could not put this down as there is just so much information to indulge on.
I love everything related to the medical field as I am a nurse myself. This books takes us on a lovely trip back in time, making us realise how lucky we are that people back then tried and tested things to figure out what could help.
This book was accessible, engaging and written in a nice way that captivated me. I think that this book will please people who love history and medicine blended in together. Everything was explained in a comprehensive way and the examples along the way enhanced the journey in time.
I would definitely recommend this book.
March 9, 2025
An extensively researched history of gender and medicine. The gist is that healthcare was managed by women in the home prior to the Scientific Revolution, where women collected and shared recipes for cakes, soaps, cleaning agents and other household essentials alongside recipes for herbal/chemical remedies. As apothecaries and physicians professionalized and commodified medicine, they pushed women out of the arena, and marketed and sold products and prescriptions for profit. The book is full of fascinating characters and historical figures, early chemists and quacks that sought to cure or create fortune, respectively. A short Part Two at the end of the book examines the ramifications of this legacy in medications of the 20th century.
April 7, 2025
3/5 - It was an interesting take on the development of modern western medicine. I think there's a lot of truth to the monetization of medicine being driven by greed masked as scientific enlightenment. The author focused in on a couple of famous accounts, which makes you wonder what was happening at the time. How many livelihoods were crushed and not recorded. I do think it is interesting that the divide between natural medicine and medicines from a lab existed from the start and that con-men existed with the exact same words/reasoning. It really highlights how people really are the same throughout.
November 6, 2025
This book took a new angle on the history of medicine for me, focusing on the transition from domestic medicine, under the care of community women and their gardens and recipe books, to the men of science and their proprietary, profit-driven practices. I found this framing to be helpful, and the well-researched center section sharing many, many documents and stories provided lots of evidence.
This book did drag for me in the middle, as a lay reader. I think I may have enjoyed reading a print copy rather than listening especially for the parts where she read recipes of the time. The final chapter helped to tie the whole thing together and underscore its importance.
This book did drag for me in the middle, as a lay reader. I think I may have enjoyed reading a print copy rather than listening especially for the parts where she read recipes of the time. The final chapter helped to tie the whole thing together and underscore its importance.
November 23, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for providinge me with this E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book gives us the look back at the medicine and apothecary, and it was really interesting to see how they progressed and changed during the centuries. Well written and nicely summarized in my opinion. However sometimes the author looked at the historical situations through modern lenses and maybe was more subjective than objective.
In total I liked the book and was interested whole time reading it.
Would recommned
4 stars from me
This book gives us the look back at the medicine and apothecary, and it was really interesting to see how they progressed and changed during the centuries. Well written and nicely summarized in my opinion. However sometimes the author looked at the historical situations through modern lenses and maybe was more subjective than objective.
In total I liked the book and was interested whole time reading it.
Would recommned
4 stars from me
July 22, 2024
Very well researched and presented - showing the history of medicine, and how the division between physicians and apothecaries became blurred, as well as the way that medicine went from being a shared domestic resource (mainly handled by women) to a commodity (mainly handled by men). It was really interesting seeing how the Scientific Revolution changed the way recipes/prescriptions were developed, the use of spin in the eighteenth century, and the way a quack was unmasked.
March 16, 2025
“But healthcare cannot be a human right in a society that commodifies medication. A commodity by definition cannot be a privilege inhering in the human being or conferred by a government on all its citizens. Turning medication into something to be bought and sold in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries involved a tremendous shift in values, and compromised medication’s identity as a fundamental right of all human beings.”
December 3, 2024
This book contained so many interesting facts about the history of medicine and the changing cultures surrounding it. I found it fascinating to learn how attitudes changed towards the study and the practice of medicine throughout the years, and the factors which influenced these changes. It was well researched and well written and overall was a thoroughly enjoyable and educational read.
February 17, 2025
Audiobook
This book looks at how the scientific revolution changed domestic medicine (that which was prepared by women and administered to their families and friends) to a commercial venture (that which was restricted by male physicians and apothecaries).
The book was just okay - I didn't find the book particularly engaging.
This book looks at how the scientific revolution changed domestic medicine (that which was prepared by women and administered to their families and friends) to a commercial venture (that which was restricted by male physicians and apothecaries).
The book was just okay - I didn't find the book particularly engaging.
February 21, 2025
Fascinating history on how medicine went from a historically women’s domain inherited from mother to daughter to the male-dominated tightly held secret it is known as at present. There is a strong feminist theme underlying the text, but I don’t think you can discuss one topic without the other.
February 26, 2025
This book was well researched and very interesting to me. I was really surprised at some of the evidence the author gathered from many years old recipe books to support her hypothesis about the true history of medicine and healing.
September 4, 2025
A fascinating history of modern medicine from a feminist perspective. As other reviewers have noted, it can be a little difficult to keep all the players in order, but this was entertaining and informative nonetheless.
September 19, 2025
A delightful read. Nice intro to nonfiction because it gives small narratives that you get invested in. Explores a lot of interesting themes of monetization of medicine and how women and minorities groups became excluded from the space.
February 5, 2025
In this house we hate the scientific revolution
Want to read
February 21, 2025The Apothecary's Wife by Karen Bloom Gevirtz
April 17, 2025
Good for sure and thought provoking but was not convinced by the argument of the author.
October 10, 2025
I really wanted to like this one. The topic is really interesting to me, but it just felt really dry.
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