Madwoman: Nellie Bly

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I would have liked hearing about her family life if it weren't for the way the narrator treated me like I was stupid and had to be explicitly told what I should think about women not being allowed to wear pants or ride horses standing up. Thus, she is encouraged to form her own opinions and later to gather information for him as she has a knack for asking the right questions. It’s heartbreaking to read about the cruelties and abuse that she and her fellow inmates (for it feels like they are prisoners rather than patients) suffered in a place that was supposed to help and protect them.

Once released from the asylum, her article is published, and she campaigns successfully for changes to the system. It all sounded perfectly plausible to me and I wouldn’t be able to tell you what was fact or what was fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review. 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. Nellie Bly was a remarkable woman, smart, brave and resourceful, her exposé of Blackwell’s Island Asylum led to important reforms, though the institution was closed seven years later.

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. We get a glimpse into her upbringing and follow her harrowing experience within the confines of the Blackwell Insane Asylum in 1880s NY. 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.

It helps us understand her actions as an adult such as why she is so determined to be independent and has her sights set on succeeding in what was then considered a man’s profession. 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. She studied at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, and worked as a freelance orchestral player and teacher.

If you are someone who does not mind being explicitly told what the message is, give this book a go! And the subtext regarding women's lack of autonomy is sledgehammered home with a complete lack of artistry. 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. She starts writing more hard hitting pieces about things that really matter and rankles a few feathers along the way.