Elizabeth Blackwell had selected medicine as a means of proving a truth she believed to be divinely sanctioned: that women could be anything they wished according to the limits of individual talent and toil, and in reaching their fullest potential would raise humanity closer to its ideal.
-- Narration (Prologue)

Importance: The book notes that Elizabeth's reasons for pursuing a medical career were multifaceted. Her actual interest in the study and practice of medicine was moderate, but she was motivated to pursue this career in order to demonstrate the capacity of women to be as intelligent and effective as men in such careers.

Marriage, however, was no guarantee of anything better. Grandmother Blackwell, tiny and gentle, lived in the shadow of her tyrannical husband...
-- Narration (chapter 1)

Importance: Elizabeth and Emily's formative explain some of the motivations behind the personal independence that characterized the Blackwell sisters' personalities. The Blackwell sisters did not subscribe to the idea that a...