An extraordinary portrait of a woman way ahead of her time, Madwoman is the story of a quest for the truth that changed the world. Based on a true story, a spellbinding historical novel about the world's first female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly. She wrote harsh but true articles and then moves to New York where she feels she can really start writing about the hard stuff. 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 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.

I enjoyed Louisa Treger’s, The Dragon Lady, and I have been eager to read Madwoman, her latest work of historical fiction featuring Nellie Bly. I thought the chapters detailing her early life could have been condensed, and her memories of early happier times that sustained her while in confinement were an unnecessary recap.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. And I saw this book while I was at my office, so I decided to give it a go because her story did seem both interesting and admirable. Bound and determined to do whatever it takes, she pitches an idea that may be the craziest thing anyone has ever heard. The New York newspapers are uninterested in Nellie’s previous success, women journalists are not welcome on Park Row.

When I was 10 or so I read a biography for children about Nellie Bly, and it was much more engaging than this plodding book. 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 brings the characters and places to life so clearly that you’d believe they were right in front of you.

I first came across her as I read once that she loved the novel Around the world in80 days by Jules Verne and she wanted to try and do that same journey for real and beat Phileas Fogg record. 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.

She captures his attention with a dare-devil idea of pretending to be a madwoman and report about the asylum on the Blackwell’s island, known for the highest mortality rate, where proper investigation of conditions is needed. 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”.A fascinating story of a can-do woman, but I could've come to every conclusion the book laid out for me without being told. Her dream of a career in law lies in tatters, her mother’s second marriage is a disaster but all these experiences will shape her character and her future. Treger ably exposes the cruel treatment and the bleak lives led by the inmates, and the challenges facing Nellie. This book shows how her desperation and perseverance in a male dominated field led her to become a patient at the Infamous Blackwell Asylum. Madwoman by Louisa Treger weaves a fascinating true story of the world’s first female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly.