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Forbidden Fruit (The Secret, Scandalous History of Contraception and Abortion)
List Price:
$32.00
| Expected release date is Jan 12th 2027 |
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Product Details
Author:
Jessica Cale
Format:
Hardcover
Pages:
320
Publisher:
Penguin Publishing Group (January 12, 2027)
Imprint:
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Release Date:
January 12, 2027
Language:
English
Audience:
General/trade
ISBN-13:
9798217044627
Weight:
17.58oz
Dimensions:
6" x 9" x 0.8125"
File:
RandomHouse-PRH_Book_Company_PRH_PRT_Onix_delta_active_D20260412T082301_155922976-20260412.xml
Folder:
RandomHouse
List Price:
$32.00
Country of Origin:
United States
Pub Discount:
65
Case Pack:
12
As low as:
$24.64
Publisher Identifier:
P-RH
Discount Code:
A
QuickShip:
Yes
Overview
From acclaimed historian and host of the Dirty Sexy History podcast Jessica Cale comes the gripping and untold history of contraception and abortion pre-Roe v. Wade that finally puts the intelligent, overlooked women who exercised unimaginable control over their fertility at the forefront.
Anti-abortion groups have long used incorrect history to argue against reproductive care, promoting a false nostalgia for a past where women were only housewives and abortion was unthinkable. In truth, says acclaimed historian Jessica Cale, history is filled with courageous women who were not passive pawns, but active agents of change and masters of their sexual destinies—and it’s time their stories were told.
In Forbidden Fruit, Cale sheds light on the state of contraception and abortion pre-Roe v. Wade, unearthing the stories and practices of the real women who lived it—like St. Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval nun who preserved recipes for abortifacients that were used in routine healthcare with the support of the Church; Hannah Woolley, an iconic 17th century Martha Stewart whose cookbooks containing home “remedies” sold out of multiple printings; and Teresia Constantia Phillips, the British courtesan behind the first major internationally serviced condom store in London. Cale’s painstaking research into historical theory, practice, and efficacy covers the surprising history and broader social impact of contraceptive methods such as ancient pessaries, herbal "menstrual regulators," douching, and coitus interruptus, as well as modern methods like the IUD, the Pill, and condoms. Following the story of fertility control from the first civilizations in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to today, she presents a stunning new perspective—that women in past eras had access to contraception and abortion with fewer restrictions and less social stigma than they face in the United States today.
A fascinating history and a timely rallying cry, Forbidden Fruit stresses that, with the future of birth control uncertain, it is more important than ever to understand its past.
Anti-abortion groups have long used incorrect history to argue against reproductive care, promoting a false nostalgia for a past where women were only housewives and abortion was unthinkable. In truth, says acclaimed historian Jessica Cale, history is filled with courageous women who were not passive pawns, but active agents of change and masters of their sexual destinies—and it’s time their stories were told.
In Forbidden Fruit, Cale sheds light on the state of contraception and abortion pre-Roe v. Wade, unearthing the stories and practices of the real women who lived it—like St. Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval nun who preserved recipes for abortifacients that were used in routine healthcare with the support of the Church; Hannah Woolley, an iconic 17th century Martha Stewart whose cookbooks containing home “remedies” sold out of multiple printings; and Teresia Constantia Phillips, the British courtesan behind the first major internationally serviced condom store in London. Cale’s painstaking research into historical theory, practice, and efficacy covers the surprising history and broader social impact of contraceptive methods such as ancient pessaries, herbal "menstrual regulators," douching, and coitus interruptus, as well as modern methods like the IUD, the Pill, and condoms. Following the story of fertility control from the first civilizations in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to today, she presents a stunning new perspective—that women in past eras had access to contraception and abortion with fewer restrictions and less social stigma than they face in the United States today.
A fascinating history and a timely rallying cry, Forbidden Fruit stresses that, with the future of birth control uncertain, it is more important than ever to understand its past.
