Madwoman

A haunting and memorable classic of biographical fiction. The real-life Nellie Bly arrives in New York, keen to make her name as a journalist, and willing to do almost anything. Daringly, astonishingly, she agrees to pretend to be mad, and is incarcerated in a terrifying and notorious insane asylum. The horrors of the place are almost unspeakable as she descends into the darkest depths. The fact that this is a true story, and that her report helped to change the system for the better, makes it all the more powerful.

I'd long been fascinated by Nellie Bly, a remarkable woman considered the world's first investigative journalist, who made her name by undertaking feats such as a real life Around the World in Eighty Days.

This novel gives a brief background to her life but focuses on her time incarcerated in an asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York, where she feigned madness to be committed, then reported on the horrific conditions inside on her release. It's told in a spare, but incredibly moving, style and is a wonderful insight into an incredible woman.