THE ACID QUEEN

The untold story of the woman who played a critical role in bringing psychedelics into the mainstreamuntil her audacious exploits forced her into the shadowsfrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire

Rosemary Woodruff Leary has been known only as the wife of Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor-turned-psychedelic high priest, whose jailbreak captivated the counterculture and whose life on the run with Rosemary inflamed the government. But Rosemary was more than a mere accessory. She was a beatnik, a psychonaut, and a true believer who tested the limits of her mind and the expectations for women of her time. Long overlooked by those who have venerated her husband, Rosemary spent her life on the forefront of the counterculture, working with Leary on his books and speeches, sewing his clothing, and shapingfor better and for worsethe media's narrative about LSD. Ultimately, Rosemary sacrificed everything for the safety of her fellow psychedelic pioneers and the preservation of her husband's legacy. Drawing from a wealth of interviews, diaries, archives, and unpublished sources, Susannah Cahalan writes the definitive portrait of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, reclaiming her narrative and her voice from those who dismissed her. Page-turning, revelatory, and utterly compelling, The Acid Queen shines an overdue spotlight on a pioneering psychedelic seeker. Susannah Cahalan is an award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and public speaker. Her 2012 memoir Brain on Fire has sold over a million copies and was made into a Netflix original movie in 2016. Her second book The Great Pretender was shortlisted for the 2020 Royal Society's Science Book Award. She has written for The New York Times, The New York Post, The Atlantic, and many other trade and academic periodicals.