This book is an incredibly well written history of how the modern birth control pill came to exist. Eig sets this history up as a story with four main characters and explores each of their unique motivations and contributions to making this happen. The first cast member is Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, who devoted her life to liberating sex. She started off the driving passion by getting the scientist Goody Pincus, who was intent on changing the world, to work on it. Then Sanger looped in a wealthy woman named Katherine McCormick to help fund it. McCormick had devoted a great deal of her life to women's liberation and came to believe that the key was controlling pregnancy. If women had all of their legal rights and education, she felt it amounted to little if they were going to be endlessly pregnant. As Pincus worked on his research he brought in a catholic gynecologist named Dr. Rock. Rock's belief in the cause came from working with women who were troubled by having far more children than their bodies, minds, and pocketbooks could manage. He argued with his church that this was something for a married couple to decide for themselves.
Eig makes all of these characters vivid and expertly weaves together the narrative of trying to find the right chemicals, testing it, getting it past the FDA, and eventually marketing it. The book is littered with interesting tidbits. When they initially brought the pill to the FDA, to avoid controversy, they said it was to help with irregular menstrual cycles and avoiding pregnancy was a side effect. The book also reflects on how life was for women before pregnancy became a choice. It's witty and generally a great read.
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