For over twenty years, this tome has served as the “Bible” of women’s health. Every woman will find guidance in it for whatever stage of life and health she is in. If you don’t understand the connection between your emotional state and the present state of your health, I recommend, for starters, consulting the index and reading about your particular problem first. Then go back and start reading the book from the beginning, so that you may understand the larger context of your individual problem.
Northrup’s book helped me get in touch with both my physical body and my emotions, the emotions and ways of thinking that kept me small and feeling dependent and incapable of supporting myself. I’d never heard of patriarchy before reading it, never realized the connection between one woman staying small and disempowered and a culture designed to keep all women that way. There I was, college-educated, with a degree in English literature, a student of Western culture, and yet in my entire college career, patriarchy had never once been introduced or discussed as a foundational construct of civilization. All I can say is “Wow, that’s power!”
