**A HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES AND THE SUNDAY TIMES**
___________________________ 'A moving story' SUNDAY TIMES Best historical fiction books of
2022 'A must read!' GILL PAUL 'Intriguing ... A fascinating read' HAZEL GAYNOR 'Remarkable'
ESSIE FOX 'An astonishing tour de force' REBECCA MASCULL 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. But life in the city is tougher than she imagined. 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. There she will work
undercover to document - and expose - the wretched conditions faced by the patients. 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? 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. 'Madwoman is one of the
best a magnificent portrayal of Nelly Bly in all her journalistic integrity and daring' New
York Journal of Books
