Margaret E. Boyle and Sarah E. Owens's edited volume offers us a peek into the hospitals, homes, and medicine cabinets of the early modern Iberian world to examine the concepts of health and healing from a gendered perspective. The book consists of an introduction and ten essays that cover several geographical settings in Spain and Latin America from the early 1500s to the late 1800s. The work is also broad in its interdisciplinary approach; it draws from fields as diverse as the history of medicine, literature, and theater studies. Taken together, the fine-grain historical studies remind us that the practice of medicine and health care, along with the experience of health and disease, is decidedly gendered. The book offers two main correctives to the literature on early modern and colonial science. It highlights the important role of Spanish and Spanish American women in medicine, health, and healing. It also challenges...
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