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"A lively medical, scientific, and economic history."—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Best Nonfiction Books of 2024, Kirkus Reviews
"A timely reminder that the current greed-based healthcare system is a relatively recent man-made scheme."—Forbes
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 consciousness: 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.
Best Nonfiction Books of 2024, Kirkus Reviews
"A timely reminder that the current greed-based healthcare system is a relatively recent man-made scheme."—Forbes
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 consciousness: 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.
Price: $24.95
Pages: 346
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
03 February 2026
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520430815
Format: Paperback
"Gevirtz brings a breadth of knowledge to her witty, deeply researched history of the commodification of health care and medicine. . . . A lively medical, scientific, and economic history."
"The Apothecary's Wife is a stunning history book about the effects of the Scientific Revolution on the practice of medicine."
“At one time, illnesses were usually treated by women for free using home remedies. An historian chronicles the systematic shift to a male-dominated medical and pharmaceutical industry that often prioritizes profit over health.”
"This book is a timely reminder that the current greed-based healthcare system is a relatively recent man-made scheme."
"An endlessly fascinating work . . . Steeped with fascinating facts and delightful historical disagreements, The Apothecary's Wife will make readers thankful for modern medicine."
"Karen Bloom Gevirtz' fascinating history of medicine shines a light on the forgotten stories of female physicians."
"Karen Bloom Gevirtz excels at unearthing unexpected stories about sickness and death, about love and rivalry, about compassion and greed. . . .The Apothecary's Wife delivers serious messages about the evils of consumerism, but it is also a good read that exposes some quirky corners of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century Britain."
"The Apothecary's Wife is a stunning history book about the effects of the Scientific Revolution on the practice of medicine."
“At one time, illnesses were usually treated by women for free using home remedies. An historian chronicles the systematic shift to a male-dominated medical and pharmaceutical industry that often prioritizes profit over health.”
"This book is a timely reminder that the current greed-based healthcare system is a relatively recent man-made scheme."
"An endlessly fascinating work . . . Steeped with fascinating facts and delightful historical disagreements, The Apothecary's Wife will make readers thankful for modern medicine."
"Karen Bloom Gevirtz' fascinating history of medicine shines a light on the forgotten stories of female physicians."
"Karen Bloom Gevirtz excels at unearthing unexpected stories about sickness and death, about love and rivalry, about compassion and greed. . . .The Apothecary's Wife delivers serious messages about the evils of consumerism, but it is also a good read that exposes some quirky corners of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century Britain."
"This is a book everyone should read in our current moment of waning confidence in medical care and eugenic thinking. . . . The Apothecary's Wife offers a model for scholarship that is grounded in humanistic, feminist, and historicist expertise."
“The Apothecary’s Wife does not overstay its welcome. . . . A somewhat dense read, but only to the degree of richness and complexity the subject demands. I would recommend this book to anyone bewildered at the state of healthcare today for a perspective that casts some clarity on the place we find ourselves in now.”
Karen Bloom Gevirtz spent nearly three decades as a professor of English at American universities while also specializing in gender studies and medical humanities.
Contents
Introduction
Part One
1. Kitchen Physic Is the Best Physic
2. The Countess of Kent’s Recipe Book
3. Chicken Soup and Viper Wine
4. Proscriptions, Prescriptions, and Poetry
5. “Was Once a Science, Now’s a Trade”
6. The Laboratory on Cheesewell Street
7. The Doctoress’s Cure for the Stone
Part Two
Ripples and Reflections
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Image Credits
Index
Introduction
Part One
1. Kitchen Physic Is the Best Physic
2. The Countess of Kent’s Recipe Book
3. Chicken Soup and Viper Wine
4. Proscriptions, Prescriptions, and Poetry
5. “Was Once a Science, Now’s a Trade”
6. The Laboratory on Cheesewell Street
7. The Doctoress’s Cure for the Stone
Part Two
Ripples and Reflections
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Image Credits
Index