Madwoman: Nellie Bly

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I thought the chapters detailing her early life could have been condensed, and her memories of early happier times that sustained her while in confinement were an unnecessary recap. Once we got into the journalism and the plot to enter the madhouse, I was back on board because of the vivid prose that was reminiscent of actual Victorian novels. I’ve always been interested in the life of Nellie Bly, so I was really looking forward to reading this fictionalised (but very close to what actually happened) account of her 10-day incarceration in a lunatic asylum. Louisa Trager has crafted a mesmerising and novel full of evocative imagery and prose that made me see and feel everything that was on the page as vividly as if I were experiencing it myself.

Down to her last dime and desperate to prove her worth, she comes up with a dangerous plan to fake insanity and have herself committed to the asylum on Blackwell's Island.

Nellie feared that the newspaper would forget to release her, and the grim conditions she experienced were driving her mad.

Madwoman by Louisa Treger was a fascinating historical novel based on the life and trailblazing work of the woman who became known as Nellie Bly. This account was most disturbing to read, and Blackwell was not the only institution where these appalling conditions occurred. New York turns out to be a much tougher place, where despite the obstacles, she still dreams about working for Joseph Pulitzer at his newspaper – the World.But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself in a place of horrors, governed by a cruelty she could never have imagined. The Blackwell's Island "stunt" is her attempt to make her mark, for Nellie herself is on her uppers, almost penniless and shut out of the male sanctums of the city's papers. It's a moving, absorbing, and beautifully written story, and a terrifying portrait of the fate many women suffered in the late nineteenth century. I very much appreciated that Louisa Treger didn’t just focus the entire novel on the asylum but gave me, as the reader, the opportunity to get to know Nellie from a young age and watch her grow into the woman she would ultimately become.

I realise this is a fictional retelling but you can tell Nelly is one of those women in history that really does need her story to be told. If you are someone who does not mind being explicitly told what the message is, give this book a go! Later, the witness of her mother’s mistreatment by her second husband makes Elizabeth even more determined to be an independent woman. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.Showing how her father's death and her mother's subsequent remarriage to an abusive husband affected her outlook on life. While progress was slow, Nellie’s work left a mark and opened an important discussion that would set the foundation for changes ahead due to her personal investment and sacrifice. Here she was confined to writing columns of interest to women, such as social gossip and theatre reviews. A fascinating read' HAZEL GAYNOR'Remarkable' ESSIE FOX'An astonishing tour de force' REBECCA MASCULLIn 1887 young Nellie Bly sets out for New York and a career in journalism, determined to make her way as a serious reporter, whatever that may take.

talents of storytelling and imagination to bring Nellie Bly firmly out of the history books and back into the spotlight where she, and her trailblazing journalism, belong. I was completely fascinated by Nellie her sheer determination to change the way women were treated in both the institutions and work places it shone through and she was one hell of a feisty woman. But I liked the way that it was structured, it spent enough time on Bly’s childhood to show us how she became a reporter but not too much where it got boring.I likedthe writing, the story and I loved the setting, as well as really taking Nellie Bly into my heart. There’s a line to the effect of “mens narratives determine women’s fate” which I thought was very powerful but at the same time, not necessarily portrayed through the characters. After encountering difficulties in finding employment she conceives an audacious plan to expose the treatment of women in an asylum on Blackwells Island New York.