The Mad Girls of New York
By: Maya Rodale
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 336
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In 1887 New York City, Nellie Bly has ambitions beyond writing for the ladies pages, but all the editors on Newspaper Row think women are too emotional, respectable and delicate to do the job. But then the New York World challenges her to an assignment she'd be mad to accept and mad to refuse: go undercover as a patient at Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum for Women.
For months, rumors have been swirling about deplorable conditions at Blackwell’s, but no reporter can get in—that is, until Nellie feigns insanity, gets committed and attempts to survive ten days in the madhouse. Inside, she discovers horrors beyond comprehension. It's an investigation that could make her career—if she can get out to tell it before two rival reporters scoop her story.
From USA Today bestselling author Maya Rodale comes a rollicking historical adventure series about the outrageous intrigues and bold flirtations of the most famous female reporter—and a groundbreaking rebel—of New York City’s Gilded Age.
First Impressions
The cover is a bit cartoon-y for me. It didn’t really appeal to me honestly. Luckily, the title intrigued me enough and the summary really caught my interest. I understand wanting to not make the cover too dark but I don’t think the book is ultimately going to attract the right audience. So basically, the first impression was not strong with this one.
What I thought
This is a historical fiction that follows Nellie Bly on her first big assignment; 10 days in the Blackwell Insane Asylum.
I didn’t know about Nellie Bly before reading this book. She was a famous reporter in the late 1800s-early 1900s who pioneered undercover journalism. Her first big story was going undercover as an insane woman in Blackwell’s Insane Asylum in New York City. When she first moved to New York City, she struggled to get hired as a woman, but once she found her gimmick, she committed and ended up writing a powerful story.
This story also has some additional characters that I’m not sure whether or not they truly existed, or at the very least not in this capacity. . First is Sam Colton, a male reporter who was vying for the same position at The World as Nellie. Second is Marian, a fellow female reporter who inspires Nellie to go after the story that is her big break.
I always enjoy stories that teach me about strong women in history. This book was a bit long at times, but I enjoyed the story a lot. It was fascinating to see the struggles of how women lived during the late 1800s. As a psychology minor in college, I had read about hysteria and how women were deemed insane due to a “wandering uterus”. It was fascinating to read about it in the context of a historical fiction story and see the way that it impacted real women’s lives.
Nellie is a very intriguing individual and if this is to be a series that follows her and the other stories that she wrote, I am in for it 100%. It saddens me that it took until this book to learn about her existence and what she did. Without her, who knows what would have happened to the women at Blackwell as well as the future trajectory of female reporters.
The book was a little slow to start, but that may have been because I wanted to get to the part where she was in the asylum doing her research. I think that was my favorite portion of the book. The 10 days felt a little long, though I guess that’s sort of the point, and I wished the story had wrapped up certain parts just a little quicker. This story was so interesting to me and I enjoyed a lot of it. I always can tell a good historical fiction story because it makes me want to go research what really happened. If you like historical fiction and are looking for something that’s unique, I highly recommend checking this one out.