Madwoman

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I flew through the book it’s not an easy read due to the content but it’s an important read we owe it to all those poor unfortunates know just what hell they went through. 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. Will Nellie be able to retain all of the information she learns as she talks to these mistreated women, or will she just become another statistic? If your favourite genre of literature is female rage, then this is the book for you. Bly channels her rage positively through her storytelling. Mad Woman is meandering and personal, and the biographical details of Bly’s life are similar to what many women are [unfortunately] all too familiar with. At twenty, she comes across an editorial – a diatribe against working women. With blood boiling, she writes a piece of her mind, which really gets editorial’s attention. Suddenly, reporting becomes something more achievable rather than becoming a lawyer. Plus, journalism would give her better maneuver to express complicated truths of life. She becomes a bone fide news reporter under a pen name Nellie Bly.

The asylum seems to be more a place of punishment than a place of healing and refuge for women. A conversation with a female patient opens her eyes to the realisation that these female patients are not necessarily “insane” in terms of psychiatric standards, but inconvenient to the patriarchal narrative forcing women to be subservient. She learned that not all women in this place were mentally ill but were imprisoned there because their husbands or male relatives wanted to be rid of them or they had broken some restrictions of society. Women who were sane on entering were in danger of lapsing into insanity due to their hopeless future. Those who suffered from a mental illness were misdiagnosed and/or offered no helpful treatment. Nellie made friends with two women who were sane like herself but watched in horror as their psychological and physical conditions deteriorated. She was assigned to a sympathetic doctor who felt his treatment benefited her. Nellie tried to interfere with some of the beatings and other torture methods employed by the 'caretakers,' and for speaking out, was savagely punished. Nellie feared that the newspaper would forget to release her, and the grim conditions she experienced were driving her mad. The story is based on a true one of Nellie Bly who was an amazing figure in her time,breaking boundaries and faking insanity to expose the harrowing lives of women ( and men ) who were incarcerated in horrific conditions accused of being insane. While Nellie is a woman to admire, nothing about this book caused it to stand out and the ending definitely felt too abrupt. Nellie Bly - what a girl! In this compelling tribute to a fearless young reporter of Victorian New York, Treger brings to vivid life the way one woman's broken past gives her the strength to expose the many horrors faced by others left to rot in an asylum. Both a pioneering writer and early icon of sexual equality, Nellie's true-life story is compassionately told in this remarkable read -- ESSIE FOX

LoveReading Says

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. Cold, isolated and starving, her days of terror reawaken the traumatic events of her childhood. She entered the asylum of her own free will - but will she ever get out? Madwoman is one of the best, a magnificent portrayal of Nellie Bly in all her journalistic integrity and daring.’

I very much enjoyed getting to know Nellie as a child - called Pink - and loved the family dynamic, her mother telling her stories and her father encouraging her to chase her dreams in the world where women were not allowed to have jobs and careers. My only dislike was the romantic part of the novel which I found hard to believe, but it was not that important to the overall story and its message. Vivid and written with compassion, Treger illumines Bly's risky reporting that led to radical reform * TORONTO STAR * A propulsive, compelling novel of the lengths one woman will go to expose the truth about how those most in need of help are kept in danger * BookRiot * Would I still recommend it? Sure! It’s an informative, easy-read story, and a strong lady definitely worth learning about. I’d heard the name Nelly Bly but knew nothing more about the woman at the heart of this story. But as soon as I read the synopsis and saw the striking cover I knew I needed to read this book. I needed to know what kind of woman would willingly get herself committed to an asylum in the nineteenth century and just what did she experience while there?I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance e-copy of Madwoman via NetGalley. I also listened to much of the book on audio, via a subscription service. Indeed, the story is very modern in several senses - Nellie Bly sets out with hopes of righting wrongs and exposing abuse, but a century of institutional scandals will warn the early 21st century reader that little is likely to be done. We should not be too judgemental of our Victoria forbears, perhaps. I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven. It was not easy to read about the horrible living conditions, torture and emotional trauma the women faced. Definitely the stuff of nightmares! I knew of Nellie Bly before reading this book, so I obviously knew what happened in the end, but it’s still a great story about a remarkable woman.

Treger provides a moving story, particularly powerful in its depiction of Bly’s desperate efforts to retain her sanity in the midst of institutional madness.’

Mad Woman tells the true story of a 19th century female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly – the first of her kind – who exemplifies bravery, skill and innovation that is required to become a journalist and what we would call a feminist today. It’s hard enough to be a writer, but during Bly’s time it was infinitely more difficult as a woman. Feminist in the making But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself in a place of horrors, governed by a harshness and cruelty she could never have imagined. Cold, isolated and starving, her days of terror reawaken the traumatic events of her childhood. She entered the asylum of her own free will—but will she ever get out? In 1887 young Nellie Bly sets out for life anew to make a name for herself by becoming a journalist, determined to leave her old life behind and create a future she can be proud of and New York is where it will happen. No matter at what cost. I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions. It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.