Madwoman: Nellie Bly

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In the process, revealing deplorable conditions, the mistreatment of patients by staff, the mental abuse that could drive sane person into insanity, hunger and cold causing distress. 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. 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. Madwoman is one of the best, a magnificent portrayal of Nellie Bly in all her journalistic integrity and daring. But it isn’t just her prose and imagery that makes you feel all of this, it is the deep connection she forges between the reader and Nelly that makes this story so deeply moving.

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.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.

Treger ably exposes the cruel treatment and the bleak lives led by the inmates, and the challenges facing Nellie. While the asylum housed women with genuine mental illnesses, it also served as a convenient way for men to rid themselves of problematic wives, sisters, and mothers. Emboldened by this success she moves to New York in 1897 and tries to obtain employment on a major newspaper. The writing in the asylum is wonderful and captures the horrific truth of what was happening at the time. Her father encouraged her interest in factual accounts, and her mother told her imaginative stories.

The staff consists of criminals and prostitutes who could not care less about the patients if they tried, and have had no training whatsoever. 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. 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.

Madwoman‘ has everything I look for in historical fiction and I flew through its pages like a woman possessed. My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for an early copy of this book and the ability to post my thoughts without any stipulations. Unfortunately, though I find Nellie’s story fascinating and Treger’s details appear accurate, I felt the narrative of Madwoman was simplistic and flat, failing to evoke atmosphere or strong emotion.

Bound and determined to do whatever it takes, she pitches an idea that may be the craziest thing anyone has ever heard. It was not easy to read about the horrible living conditions, torture and emotional trauma the women faced. About the book: “Based on a true story, a spellbinding historical novel about the world's first female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly. This account was most disturbing to read, and Blackwell was not the only institution where these appalling conditions occurred. In 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.