Madwoman: Nellie Bly

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Having already read Louisa Treger's earlier books, 'The Lodger' and 'The Dragon Lady', I was really looking forward to 'Madwoman'. Nellie decides she would like to pursue a career in journalism and has some success on a local paper. She will get herself committed to the asylum that everyone whispers terrible things are happening at, but no one has gotten any proof. Fortunately, she had not been forgotten by the newspaper and was released from Blackwell against the wishes of those in charge. 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.

It's 1887 and 19-year-old Nelly Bly has come to New York to try and make her name as a journalist, something unheard of for women at the time.It all sounded perfectly plausible to me and I wouldn’t be able to tell you what was fact or what was fiction. A HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES AND THE SUNDAY TIMES**___________________________'A moving story' SUNDAY TIMES, Best historical fiction books of 2022'A must read! Louisa Treger, a classical violinist, studied at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and worked as a freelance orchestral player and teacher.

It’s clear from the beginning she’s a determined and intelligent young lady, not intent on being outdone by her brothers in any way, and with her sights firmly set on a better life in which she need not be dependent on a man. 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. 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 that looms on Blackwell's Island. There is at this time much prejudice against femalejournalists especially those who wish to tackle more difficult subjects than fashion and beauty. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.There, she will work undercover to document – and expose – the wretched conditions faced by the patients. Having paved the way for mental health facilities around the country, Nellie was a trailblazer in creating a new type of journalist, an undercover. Would Nellie have bathed and washed her hair the night before she began her quest to be declared a lunatic? So I loved the book it made me sad but it also gave me hope in that people like Nellie are still around today and are as caring as she was, please read the book it really is worth it. As a young girl she gives us glimpses of the trailblazer she will become and little Nelly - or Pinks as she is then known - is a fierce and outspoken tomboy who doesn’t fit in and wants much more than to just be somebody’s wife.

D. in English at University College London, where she focused on early-twentieth-century women's writing and was awarded the West Scholarship and the Rosa Morison Scholarship "for distinguished work in the study of English Language and Literature". The setting of the asylum will haunt me for some time to come and it was so vivid and fascinating that I had chills down my spine as she uncovered layers of wrongdoing, claustrophobia, ill treatment and so much worse.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. It's a moving, absorbing, and beautifully written story, and a terrifying portrait of the fate many women suffered in the late nineteenth century. Treger ably exposes the cruel treatment and the bleak lives led by the inmates, and the challenges facing Nellie. Looking into her eyes, Nellie saw that there was a grief only beheld in lunatic asylums, a grief so deep and black that its victim was submerged beyond reach, far more wretched than a criminal. Once released from the asylum, her article is published, and she campaigns successfully for changes to the system.

What she is doing - having herself committed to the asylum - is a deeply serious step and Nellie finds conditions worse there than she could have imagined. 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.But Nellie’s work had a lasting impact on society and on women across the country who refused to be anything other than themselves. What an absolutely stunning read this was and many congratulations to Louisa Treger for writing such a wonderful historical novel with such compassion and feeling .