Madwoman: Nellie Bly

Product Information

Since my college journalism days I’ve been fascinated by the role of women in investigative journalism, including Ida Tarbell and Nellie Bly. First, this book takes fifty pages to even get to the start of Nellie's journalism career, and with a brisk 282 pages that's too long for me.

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. This was a time where women could be deemed insane for simply falling in or out of love or having the wrong opinion, and once you were behind that locked door you were usually left to rot. 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. 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. Sux years later, working in service to help support her family, an editorial in the Pittsburgh Dispatch revives her aspirations, and she convinces the paper to publish a series of articles, adopting the nom de plume, Nellie Bly.It's a moving, absorbing, and beautifully written story, and a terrifying portrait of the fate many women suffered in the late nineteenth century. This is the kind of novel that makes you want to jump on the internet and find out a whole lot more about everything you’ve just read. Feeling she has gone insane herself, Nellie really starts to question her assignment and agreement to do this. Characters speak in a way no real people would have, with educated and noneducated, native speakers and emigrants all sounding the same. Madwoman by Louisa Treger is a historical fiction novel, set in the late 19th century America, and it’s based on a true story.

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.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. Incredibly she manages to convince sufficient people that sheis suffering from mental illness to getcommitted to the asylum.

I was left with a nice introduction to Nellie Bly, but the interior workings and emotions of each character didn’t shine through. Treger's story, which in its first half explores and interprets Nellie's early life diligently, really takes fire in its second part as it touches on what Nellie might have been thinking and feeling as she was locked all night in a rat-infested cell; forcibly dunked in filthy, cold water; or half strangled by a vengeful nurse after speaking out about conditions. Here she was confined to writing columns of interest to women, such as social gossip and theatre reviews. And the subtext regarding women's lack of autonomy is sledgehammered home with a complete lack of artistry. 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.However, Nellie soon realises that life in the big city is much more different to what she is used to, and tougher than she could predict with people quick to take advantage and shun her ideals of being taken seriously in the male dominated field she so wishes to be a part of. 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.

Blackwell’s Island and it’s grey and hostile nature were a stark contrast to the city, and is managed very well by the author. While the subject matter is worth reading, the presentation lacked for me, especially in the first half of the book.She has problems, confronts the men in power, and comes out the other side with a job and apartment? The third person viewpoint removes the reader from events, I wanted to walk with Nellie, not observing her as a reporter might. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review. 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.