I really liked this book! In the past few years I’ve mostly read just romance novels (bc you know life), but I was really excited when Berkley sent me the eARC of this book!

It’s a fictional biopic of Nellie Bly, a leader in investigative journalism as a woman. While she was real, this book takes some of the facts and then some fiction to create a really interesting tale. I mean the whole plot of agreeing to go to the asylum is a lot.

I love mystery novels and there was just the right amount of investigation, history, and excellent writing for me to enjoy this novel. The hints of romance even made me happy.

If you need a novel about a woman taking on the world and breaking glass ceilings with a dash of investigation all told in the Gilded Age, here’s your book.

My only issues were it dragged a little in places (not a huge problem, but rather the other parts of the book made it seem worse than it was) and some of the side characters could have used a bit more to them.

Overall I totally recommend this book! I really enjoyed reading it and definitely will be checking out Rodale’s other books (which ARE romances)

In 1887, journalist Nellie Bly moves from Pittsburg—where she got a job at the paper after writing a letter to the editor—to New York City. There, she anticipates taking the city by storm, seeing her byline on the most famous of papers. Instead, editors reject her, providing a litany of reasons why women can’t be reporters. Finally, out of money, Nellie devises a bold plan—she offers to go undercover as a Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum for Women to expose the conditions at the facility.

Fooling a series of doctors, she’s admitted, and the situation is worse than she imagined. While some women are mentally ill, others are just unable to speak English or physically ill with no one to care for them. What’s worse, they are fed small, moldy portions of food, kept in freezing rooms, and treated abhorrently by the nurses and staff. Nellie only has to wait ten days for her editor to come sign her out—but can she stand it that long before descending into madness herself?

At the time, if women worked for papers, they wrote for the women’s section. Nellie’s courage and determination shone an important light on the reality at Blackwell’s and introduced a period of “stunt journalism.” Even though Bly was quite famous in her day, details of her life are not as familiar to contemporary readers, and I loved that this book both tells Nellie’s story and illustrates the living conditions of women in New York City in the 1880s—both inside and outside the asylum.

Maya Rodale provides a comprehensive author’s note that explains how she approached the topic and the characters she invented for the book.

I believe this is the first in a series, and I look forward to future volumes! Anyone who enjoys historical fiction or women’s history with scrappy protagonists will enjoy THE MAD WOMEN OF NEW YORK.

TW for the book: mental illness, fire, death, body autonomy. Please take care.

I first heard of Nellie Bly in an episode of the hit show, The West Wing. First Lady Abigail Bartlet tells her husband that she was in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania dedicating a monument to Nellie Bly. President Bartlet told her she could have other people do that sort of thing. Abigail is enraged and tells him about Bly's life. The next day the fictional president gives a radio address about overlooked women in history. 15 years later, Nellie Bly has stuck in my head ever since and I jumped on the chance to read this fictional story about her real life stunt to make the conditions of Blackwell Asylum known to the World.

This book is incredibly researched and well written. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that it was taken directly from Bly's notes. Rodale knocked it out of the park with this. I really hope she has plans to write more of Nellie's lesser known stories!

The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale was a highly interesting and engaging historical fiction novel.

When Nellie Bly moves to New York City, she has big dreams of becoming a big-time journalist. Unfortunately, she’s just got one thing in her way - she’s female. Typically women only get to write for the Ladies’ Pages and there’s only one woman on staff at each newspaper. Not willing to take no for an answer, Nellie hijacks Sam Colton’s interview and pledges to go undercover as a patient in the insane asylum at Blackwell’s Island where rumors of horrible conditions abound. The editor takes Nellie up on her offer and soon she’s admitted as a patient and ends up spending 10 days in a madhouse. This novel provides a fictional account of Nellie’s time there.

Overall, this was a really great read! I loved Nellie as a character and admired her ambition and perseverance. There was kind of a surprise twist about one of the other patients. I saw it coming as it was foreshadowed early on, but the reveal was still very satisfying.

I believe this is going to be a series, so I’m looking forward to finding out what kind to adventure Nellie finds herself in next.

You know the book I just read is a good one when, for days after finishing it, I find a way to work it into the conversation with everyone. This is one of those.
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I think I had heard about Nellie Bly occasionally in the past, but more recently her name came up in other novels centered around the Gilded Age of New York, when the uber rich “400” lived a life of privilege and extravagance that more than rivals any today.
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The Mad Girls of New York, by Maya Rodale, is a fictionalized story based on truth about Nellie Bly and her undercover stint as an inmate in an infamous insane asylum in order to report on it for a major New York newspaper.
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I loved how her story showed the injustices not only inflicted on the women in the asylum, but on women in general in the late 1800’s. Women belonged to their fathers, then their husbands, and any sort of independence was frowned upon. Nellie has an elaborate scheme to act insane and convince doctors that she needed to be sent to the asylum. She soon realizes that she didn’t have to act crazy at all, she just had to do is have a friend declare her insane, or practically anything that is listed on the list above following list. (Swipe left, according to it, all of us women bookstagramers could be committed for reading novels, we are all in trouble).
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I read through this novel so quickly, I was thoroughly engrossed in Nellie’s fight for herself and the women she met. It is a fascinating story and now I plan to look up Nellie Bly’s two part, front page news articles about her “Ten Days in a Mad-House”. She was such a pioneer for women reporters and women’s rights.

When I started this incredible book by Maya Rodale, I immediately thought of the movie Frankie and Johnny.  I saw that movie over fifty years ago and I strongly remember the character Nellie Bly. Well, the Nellie Bly in this book is not the character from the movie. No, Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran and Nellie Bly became her pen name. 

The reason she chose a pen name is that it was not the thing for women to have either their name nor their photograph in a public newspaper. Nellie had been writing for a newspaper, but it was all fluff. Knowing she could offer much more in the field of journalism, she headed to New York, determined to get hired by a notable New York paper.

The time frame was The Gilded Age and it was a matter of course for women to be disregarded for many jobs during time period, yet many began to leave conventional roles. Nellie approaches an editor for a job, and at the same time there is a male reporter after the same job. She comes up with something major. She will get herself committed to an insane asylum called Blackwell's. The institution has a horrible reputation. 

Blackwell's Island insane asylum was a place built in the 1830s and is often used as a warning to keep women in line. Women were known to disappear when it came to Blackwell's and the threats were taken quite seriously. Considering no woman leaves Blackwell's alive, Nellie is taking quite a risk. 

Nonetheless, she lays a plan to get in but is unclear as to how she will get out. Her plan works and she is committed. Things are as bad as she had heard, even more so. Nellie endures the same brutal conditions as the 1,600 other women are experiencing. The only difference is that Nellie is planning on getting out in seven days. 

The Mad Girls of New York is actually the first book in the Nellie Bly series. Since this is a fictional work based on true historical events, readers can look forward to reading more of Nellie Bly's exploits as she became a noted journalist. Please be sure to read the Author's Note at the end of the book. Maya Rodale did extensive research and offers other reading material for those interested in the life and exploits of Nellie Bly.

While this book was truly an exceptional read, it was difficult to read the passages about the horrid conditions that women were experiencing inside of Blackwell's walls. The author did a fabulous job making Nellie Bly come alive in the pages of this book.

Many thanks to Berkley Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

"God save Nellie from the ladies’ pages. If a woman was lucky enough to get a job working for a paper—which spared her from working in a factory, or as a domestic or a wife (shudder)—she would have to spend her days writing about household hints and recipes, garden shows and charity luncheons. It was mind-numbingly tedious and she wanted to avoid it at all costs. It was one reason why she had left Pittsburgh."
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"There is nothing worse than being told that you don’t know your own mind or body. If you aren’t mad when you go in, chances are you will be by the time you come out."

When twenty-three-year-old Nellie Bly headed to New York City in 1887, she left a message for her boss at The Pittsburgh Gazette.
"I’m off for New York. Look out for me."
—Nellie Bly

Good advice. It was no easy task for Elizabeth (Elly) Jane Cochrane. Women in journalism were relegated to the “ladies’ page” when they were hired at all. And often had to use pen names to get their work into print. Persistence paid off, though, and Cochrane finally got a gig with The New York World, by promising to go undercover at the New York City Asylum for the Insane on Blackwell’s Island. (called Roosevelt Island today). The notorious institution had already been the subject of multiple journalistic examinations. But it was a tough place to get into, and, as it had changed from a co-ed institution to a women’s asylum in 1872, it would take a female to be able to get inside, one of the downsides to journalism being such a boys’ club. But Nellie’s self-confidence, and courage, knew no bounds, so she dove right in.

The Mad Girls of New York is a novelization of Bly’s actual early adventures in NYC. Some of the characters are taken from Bly’s seminal work, Ten Days in an Asylum, which was comprised of and expanded from the articles she had written for the New York World, a series that made her reputation. She persuaded those who needed persuading that she was mad, in order to be institutionalized as a patient. It was surprisingly easy. Once in, she experienced the horrors inflicted on the patients, although inmates would have been more accurate.

The asylum was a physically cold place, and the residents were provided with painfully inadequate clothing and covers. The food was unspeakable, often insect-ridden, the physical accommodations spartan, the doctors dismissive, the nurses abusive, and the cleanliness regimen was cruel. It did not help that some of the help was recruited from the prison that was also on the island.

We meet several groups of characters. The journalism pack leads off. This includes the editors she interviews during a project on why the papers do not hire women. There is a fair bit of LOL to be had in this as she leaves them spinning and sputtering in their own contradictions. There are the other women journalists with whom she engages, a club of sorts, who help each other out, getting together in an establishment, The Ordinary, that serves women only. Such institutions did exist at the time. She has a competition going with a male reporter, Sam Colton, from Chicago. There is also a simmering attraction between the two, but it is not romancy enough to intrude into the story too much, thankfully. There is also a flirtation with the hunky, single mayor.

"When you learn that there was in fact a hot bachelor mayor of New York City named Hugh Grant, you must include it in your novel." - from Rodale’s Twitter feed

Rodale has produced numerous romance novels, (22 by my count, plus some novellas, a children‘s book and a couple of non-fics) so it would have been a shock if there were not some sparks flying in this tale. But if you are hoping for ignition into conflagration, you will have to check out her considerable romance work instead.

Then there are the patients. Anne is in need of care, but cannot afford decent treatment at a private institution. The Princess has a regal bearing but will only say three words, Rose, Daisy, and Violet, over and over. Tillie has a nervous condition, truly needs some rest, some peace and quiet, in a warm place, but her friends dumped her off at Bellevue (with friends like that…). Prayer Girl, who pleads with god to kill her ASAP, somehow never takes the initiative herself. Women are committed to this place for a variety of reasons, few of them good. Many devolve to a broad category of their being inconvenient, something Martha Mitchell might recognize. Then there is Mrs Grady, the Nurse Ratched of this enterprise, a cruel overseer, super control freak, eager to inflict pain and punishment and never willing to hear any of the real concerns of her charges. Toss in a few cruel cops and attendants, a clueless doctor, and another who at least shows some bits of humanity.

Rodale’s focus is on how women were treated, not just in this horrid institution, but in all institutions of the wider world, using her story-telling skills to show us how women were regarded as a lesser life form, in politics, in journalism, in finance, in the overall world of work, well…paid work. Slaving at home for hubby and progeny was still just fine and dandy. She shows the struggles that smart, driven women had to endure in order to access the same level of opportunity and respect as men, just to be able to cover hard news. Bly was one of a group of women called “Girl Stunt Reporters,” daring women journalists who put themselves in peril in order to delve into many of the social wrongs of the late 19th century.

Rodale spices up the story, as if it needed additional condiments, with a mystery about a high-society spouse gone strangely missing, with the widower chomping at the bit to wed a younger, richer, woman. She incorporates actual historical events and people into the tale, sometimes with name changes, sometimes with tweaking of timelines. Some personages retain their names, including the aforementioned mayor, Hugh Grant, (who did not actually become mayor until 1889, two years after the events of this novel) Hetty Green (The Witch of Wall Street), Harriet Hubbard Ayer, a writer of articles about beauty and health for the New York World, and others.

Despite the harshness of the conditions Bly, and now Rodale, reveal, there is no graphic violence or sexual behavior in The Mad Girls of New York. This helps make it perfectly suitable for younger readers, particularly girls, who may not know about Nellie, and what a pioneer she was. It is a very fluid, quick read.

Nellie’s story is a remarkable one. Rodale has done a very nice job of letting modern readers in on what Nellie faced as a gutsy, newbie reporter in New York, and what she accomplished, at least in the short term, encouraging us to learn more about this brilliant, dogged, remarkable woman. You’d have to be crazy to pass this one by.
The madhouse had been horrible, but this part—writing it all down with the promise of seeing the atrocities in print, made it feel worthwhile. When she thought of the public reading her words and knowing about the suffering that happened at Blackwell’s, Nellie felt shivers. Do stunts, Marian had flippantly suggested. But Nellie had found her life’s work.

Review posted – May 6, 2022

Publication date – April 26, 2022


I received an ARE of The Mad Girls of New York from Berkley in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating. Can I get a warmer blanket, please?

Flor the full review, with images and links, please check it out on my site or on Goodreads.

Nellie is trying to get into journalism in New York and to do so, she decides to do a stunt (put herself into a story/make a story happen). What is her idea? To get committed to the asylum on Blackwell’s Island and report on the conditions there.

What she finds is…horrifying, to say the least. And at some point, she worries she will never get out. Worries that the editor who agreed to take her story won’t come and get her released. But, as we know, that doesn’t happen. She is released and reveals to the world what the women at Blackwell’s go through every day and the incompetence and misogyny that put them there.

Maya Rodale, in my opinion, got Nellie’s personality and voice perfectly. Nellie is stubborn and determined and willing to do anything to make her dream come true. But she’s also very empathetic. Because of how much she feels for the women at the asylum (and because she knows how easily she could have ended up being one of them), she makes sure to remember everything she witnesses and experiences herself.

I don’t know if Nellie would call herself brave but I will. To put yourself in an extremely dangerous situation to make sure voiceless people have their voices heard…that’s brave and courageous. And one of the reasons why I admire her so much.

I will say that the scenes in the asylum can be difficult to read so be careful if that’s something you know will bother you. What the women go through…well, I would call it torture.

More specifically, there is a scene right before Nellie is about to leave the asylum that, for me, was the most difficult scene. Nellie pretty much gets waterboarded although it might not have been called that back then. So…be careful!

I should also mention that the book isn’t only from Nellie’s point of view. It switches between her point of view as well as the point of view of her rival Sam Colton and another lady reporter, Marian Blake. It was really fun to see how they viewed things and what they were doing while Nellie was at the asylum. It also gives the reader a short break from being in the asylum which I really appreciated.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. Because of how much I love Nellie Bly and her story, there is kind of no way I wouldn’t love it lol. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars. If you like historical fiction that’s based on real history, you definitely want to check out The Mad Girls of New York!

The Mad Girls of New York is available now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this one!
I'm such a fan of Maya Rodale's historical romances.
While this isn't a romance book, I still loved it.
I loved learning about Nellie Bly and her start in the newspaper world.
I'm so glad this is the start of a new series.

The Mad Girls of New York is fantastic, motivating and inspiring first book in Nellie Bly series that revolves around how Nellie Bly started her investigative journalist career by going undercover as a patient at notorious insane asylum for women on Blackwell’s Island to get the inside story. The story is about sexism, struggle of Women in Journalism, Social discrimination of women, classism, life of Gilded Age Women, courage, sisterhood, and friendship.

Writing is engaging, vivid and compelling that takes us back to 1887 NY. The story is told in third person narrative mainly from Nellie’s POV. There are occasional perspectives of Nellie’s two rivals, Sam Colton and Marian Black.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book that gave clear picture of Nellie’s struggle as a new girl in city, trying to get a job in newspaper. It showed how amazing Nellie is with her ideas and still she is rejected and mocked at all big newspapers not given a chance for months. Her interviews with editors of big newspapers showed how absurd their opinions are about Women in Journalism.

After series of unfortunate events, she is desperate to get the job. By chance, she meets the female reporter from her dream newspaper, World, who help her pass the entry. Nellie is not going to pass the opportunity and takes the interview set for another man, Sam Colton. Not only the interview but his job too, making him angry and now that Sam knows about her assignment he gets the job from rival newspaper with assignment to steal her story.

It was interesting to read how she is going to prove herself mad to be admitted to Blackwell’s asylum, what she will discover there, will she have her story or Sam would beat her to it, and major concern of all how she is going to get out of the prison, can she trust editor of World to release her from asylum before it makes her mad.

Nellie is most interesting character. She is fiery, passionate, filled with energy, smart, kind, strong-willed, and resolute person. I was expecting her to be reckless with all this traits but she wasn’t. She knew what she is doing and she has always been careful with her next step. Her courage, fear, and emotions are well portrayed. I liked how will and determination kept her from succumbing to fear and madness of the asylum and how her time in asylum made her strong.

At some point, it felt like she couldn’t think beyond her story, she was possessive about it, and angry at her rivals but advice from fellow female journalists about ‘helping women and another person like her’ made her think above her dream and story. She learned a lot in this story and yet there is more space for her development for next books.

I enjoyed secondary characters, especially other female journalists. Harriet is ladies page reporter at World who helped Nellie and also instilled in her, “Women have to look after each other because no one else will.” Dorothy is black journalist writes for popular Black newpaper. Marian is my favorite of all. she is kickass ladies page journalist in Herald who wanted to be stunt reporter and get the first page story. She is cast from upper class society for her radical views and blunt nature but she landed on her feet. She has her resources and I loved how her ladies page story turned out more serious and took route towards front page. What I liked most about her is her sense of duty towards other women, ensuring safety of her resources is strong. It is even stronger than Nellie.

I liked friends Nellie made in asylum. The Praying Girl, Tillie, Princess, Mrs, Kisner, Elsie… they all had story and it was sad to read how they were admitted in asylum. Some characters added more tension to story like those mean nurses. And there is Sam Colton. I didn’t like him at first. It was fair he wanted to have payback but at the same time I didn’t like him for trying to steal Nellie’s story, for which she admitted herself to madhouse and going through all the trouble while all he did is follow and tried to get information from her. But I liked how knowing more about her and digging her story he started to care and fall for her.

Best part of the story is Blackwell’s asylum. It is atmospheric setting. I was literally horrified reading about the facility and conditions in there. It was easy to picture all the torture instruments even before Nellie started collecting information. Their ways of torture surpass all my imaginations. It’s not brutal and yet is soul breaking. It stole hope or any spirit and their will to live. I felt so much angry toward medical system, the nurses, and doctors who never tried to help or treat these women.

Even with author’s point towards how nurses weren’t paid enough or how thankless their task was, I didn’t feel for them. They all were cruel. Unlike original Nellie, author made fictional Nellie try to understand their cruelty, but anyone can see they didn’t have compassion. They outright believed all women desrved to be treated like that as they are insane but any normal person could see their was nothing worng with them. They just need care, space, proper treatment for their physical ailment, time to heal their emotional wounds, somebody to listen them that they are admitted against their will and by mistake.

Apart from the layer or struggle of women journalists and poor health system, there is also a subplot of society gossip and second marriage of a wealthy person. It was easy to guess that mystery. I wouldn’t even call it a mystery as I could tell what happened with that accident by 30% of the book and yet it was interesting to read Marian’s investigation on it and how she collected information and reached to conclusion. There is also layer of abusive marriage through Nellie’s mother’s story and why Nellie escaped Pittsburgh to seek job in NY newspaper. There is also small talk about early stage of women suffrage and classism.

This is a feminist story. I didn’t know this is based on real historical figures of New York’s gilded age until I read author’s note. There is even a short novel on “Ten Days in a Mad House by Nellie Bly”. Many characters in this book are based on real historical figures. Author kept most of the story same as historical facts by changing only few things. Author also included many other famous females of Gilded age and historical figures that came before and after Nellie’s time.

Climax is tense and touching. I liked what happened once Nellie is out of the madhouse along with revelation of second subplot of high society marriage. End is perfect, uplifting and lovely. I can’t wait to read more about Nellie’s adventure in next books.

Overall, The Mad Girls of New York is moving, inspiring, thought-provoking and fast-paced historical fiction on real historical figure of New York City’s Gilded Age.

I highly recommend this if you like,
Story on real Historical figure
Gilded age
Feminist story
Fast pace
Atmospheric setting
Diverse cast
Cutthroat compitition between newspapers
Theme of Women journalists and their struggle
Layer of poor health system, classism, sexism

One Sentence Summary: It’s the late 1880s and women journalists are a rare breed, but Nellie Bly dreams of joining the ranks of male journalists by risking her life and sanity to uncover what really goes on in Blackwell’s, an insane asylum for women.

Overall
The Mad Girls of New York is an historical fiction novel that recounts Nellie Bly’s break into male-dominated newspapers in NYC. It paints Nellie as a headstrong, stubborn woman who will do anything to get the job of her dreams as well as the story, but who also has a softer side to her. I really enjoyed reading this fictionalized account of her time at Blackwell’s, especially since it was grounded in fact. Reading about the other women there was also fascinating. The one thing that I wasn’t a big fan of was one of the other POVs woven through. By the end, I had figured out why, but it just seemed so drawn out and, as a mystery, it was extremely weak. But The Mad Girls of New York was a surprisingly fast and easy read I really enjoyed.

Extended Thoughts
In the late 1880s, Nellie Bly, a fearless journalist who dreams of working for a newspaper in New York City, leaves Pittsburgh to do just that. But, as a woman at a time where women were factory girls or sales girls or married and did as her husband told her, Nellie is turned away time and time again by male editors. Until she crosses paths with a distinguished woman who writes for the ladies’ pages at the World and who introduces her to other female journalists, one of whom gives Nellie an idea.

Nellie takes her idea to Cockerill, the editor of the World and tells him she will go undercover at Blackwell’s to uncover what really goes on there because the insane asylum is famous for not allowing any reporters inside. He, and the journalist whose interview she crashes, have her attention, but they clearly don’t believe she can do it. But Nellie is determined to prove herself, and, in the end, prove she can stay sane in a place that will threaten to turn her insane.

I’m not a big fan of historical fiction, but I am familiar with Nellie Bly, so this one caught my attention. I wasn’t expecting anything actually interesting, and just hoped it would be okay and explore the life of Nellie a bit, but The Mad Girls of New York really surprised me. Even though it’s historical fiction, complete with the speech and mannerisms of the people of that day, I felt it read more like contemporary fiction in terms of pace and ease of reading. It flowed well and was fun and interesting to read. The characters were well-written, the story was fascinating even though I knew how it ended, and the fictional take on it all meant it was a really fun and entertaining read. I never felt bogged down in historical details or that pains were taken for accuracy. It turned out to be an easy and surprisingly fast read.

I don’t know anything about Nellie’s personality or personal life, so can’t speak to any accuracy of her characterization, but I really enjoyed it. She’s headstrong and stubborn and will clearly do anything to break into a man’s world and do what she’s good at. At the same time, there’s a softer side to her that’s offered, a side of her that cares about others and cares about her own survival and well-being as well. Nellie really came alive to me, and I liked that, sometimes, she was cautious, careful to not overplay her role. It didn’t just reveal just how dogged a journalist she was, but also the prevailing view of women and their roles at that point in time.

What was really nice about The Mad Girls of New York was that it didn’t diverge or devolve into a commentary on how women were treated back then. I liked that it did highlight how miserable a time it was for women, but it never took over the story. Instead, it was mentioned as fact and the story played around with it to really highlight the historical period. It was interesting to see how little it took for a woman to be declared insane, but I do wish it had pursued the quack doctors line as they were the reason why so many women were summarily sent to Blackwell’s for doing little more than be women with minds. The Mad Girls of New York, though, really chose to focus on how Nellie survived Blackwell’s to tell the story of the gross mistreatment and to echo her first story as a woman journalist in NYC.

Even though I’m familiar with the general story, it was a lot of fun to read some details of it, with the story clearly reflecting fact as bits and pieces of Nellie Bly’s piece Ten Days in a Mad House were included. I hadn’t been acquainted with any details, so it was quite a surprise to read about how the women were actually treated. I liked how Nellie continually mentioned how torturous the experience was, though, at times, it did start to feel a bit repetitive. Still, she clearly had little else to ruminate on.

My favorite part was how other stories were included, and not just the stories of the women held at Blackwell’s. Their cases were miserable and infuriating, and I’m so glad I didn’t live back then. But their stories were woven in really well and I became just as invested in their fictional lives as I was in Nellie’s. What was really nice was to actually get diversity as two black women and their stories were highlighted. They were based on historical women and I liked that they were so consciously chosen and included and highlighted their success. But what I really liked was how Nellie found herself as part of a small circle of female journalists. They each took different approaches to their profession, but all had that devotion to telling a story, to pursuing it at all costs.

While I didn’t quite understand why Colton and Marion received their own POVs, it all really made sense in the end. Well, Colton’s made the most sense all the way through and it was fun to follow him as he tried to investigate Nellie. I really liked him as he seemed like an actual real human being who cared despite being a journalist. His blossoming relationship with her, despite its prickles, was so much fun, though I feel much more ambivalent about the hinted romance between Nellie and the mayor. I do know who the real Nellie Bly married, so I’m curious to see how that and her relationship, whatever kind of relationship it is, with Colton will be done. Marion’s POV was more confusing to me for much of the novel. She was pursuing a fluff piece for the ladies’ pages, but it had deeper ramifications, and I did end up enjoying how it played out. However, it just felt so drawn out that I was nearly bored by it, and definitely figured it out before either woman.

The Mad Girls of New York was a fascinating historical fiction read to me. I liked how it captured the spirit of Nellie Bly and was grounded in fact. I liked how fact was recreated in fiction and I could almost believe that what was in these pages could have actually happened like that. I liked reading about the women at Blackwell’s and about the journalistic rivalries between both the male and female journalists. This was an easy and fast read that did slow down at times, but not for long. I enjoyed the constant forward progress as well as what felt like Nellie’s slow unraveling as day after day beyond the seventh wore on and she could never be sure if she was going to be released. Overall, a very satisfactory historical read to me, and I look forward to reading more of this series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I went into this book knowing very little about Nellie Bly, and I learned a lot about the fascinating and courageous way she got her start as a journalist. I was a bit tricked by the cartoon cover--Nellie's time in the asylum was obviously very dark, and at times hard for me to read. The treatment that these women endured was horrific, especially because you read this book aware that it is based on real events. I was less interested in the side characters, but it was interesting when all the stories began to come together in the end. I'm not sure if this is a series I will continue with, but I did enjoy (and learn a lot) from the first installment!

CW: Abuse, Mental Illness

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was some intriguing and enlightening historical fiction. This was one of those books that got me to stop, think and do a bit of looking things up and researching of my own. I loved reading and learning about Nellie Bly in the story and on my own after finishing the book.
I was a bit caught off guard reading about what times were like for women back then in 1887. I was appalled reading about the mental hospital, Blackwell's Insane Asylum for Women both in the story and on my own. It's disgusting the way they treated women back then in the insane asylum. It's also disappointing to read how it was for women back then and I'm glad that we live now where it's improved as much as it has for women with various things. I mean there are still some improvements for women to be made, but it's so much better than it was in the late 1800s when this story took place.
This story was about Nellie Bly and how she went after her dream to become a reporter in New York. She would stop at nothing to expose injustices against women. She goes undercover as a patient in Blackwell's Insane Asylum to expose them and their deplorable treatment of the women and the conditions of the hospital. It's a very interesting and great historical fiction read.
If you like historical fiction, stories about strong women, following your dreams and the like then make sure to check this one out. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for letting me read and review this fascinating book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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.

I stayed up late last night to finish this book - worth it. I definitely recommend reading the afterword as well - lots of great historical information, recommendations for further information.
1887 NYC Newspaper Row- and not a woman on staff writing an article women want to read, beside the supposed "lady's page" filled with society gossip, fashion trends and "safe" topics to not cause emotions.
Nellie Bly arrives in NYS as a serious journalist - struggling to find any male editor to not only take her seriously, but to hire her. After lunching with other struggling newspaper women, Nellie not only finds her support group, she also finds herself trespassing on a man's interview with the New York World. Determined these men will take her seriously, Nellie proposes a sensational story - infiltrating the terrifying Blackwell Asylum - the place women deemed insane are sent to die, away from society's sight.
Colton refuses to be outdone by a woman reporter - and begins publishing Nellie's story as he chases her progress.
Terrifying portrayal of the reality of women - not just women in an asylum, mercilessly abused and criticized, broken by the utter lack of humanity of those paid to care. Nellie rightfully asks these women how they came to be at Blackwell's - put aside by uncaring husbands, cruel family and friends who cannot afford to support these women who are just tired, exhausted from a life of constant work - paid labor and of course the duties of the home, childcare, caring for their husbands, their homes. Few choices, even less freedom.
Wonderfully done.

The Mad Girls of New York is set in 1887 and is a fictionalized account of Nellie Bly and her fight to become a reporter. In her endeavors, she goes undercover and gets herself committed to Blackwells Island asylum for "insane" women. This institution had a horrible reputation and Nellie wanted to uncover the truth about it. The story will have you on the edge of your seat as you read about the horrific things that were done to the women. Learning how some came to be there will shock you.

This is the first book in the series, and I will definitely be on the lookout for the next one.

This story captivated me from the beginning! I had heard about this insane asylum but I had no idea of what really went on there! This story was told through the viewpoints of Nellie, Sam Colton - a reporter trying to steal her story, and Marion - a socialite turned journalist in a time when there were not many women reporters and they were often forced to take desperate measures to get a story.

I loved the action in this story and couldn’t wait to read the next chapter to see what would happen next! This one may make it into my Top Ten of 2022! Read this if you love a good story filled with drama, tension, and strong female characters!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, and NetGalley for my digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

This fictionalized account of Nellie Bly's undercover reporting about an insane asylum is so ... fun? It seems strange to talk about such a serious subject in that way, but I really did enjoy every second I spent reading this novel!

The story starts with Nellie desperate to get a job with a New York newspaper. She soon comes up with the idea to get herself committed to Blackwell's, a women's insane asylum with a horrible reputation, and she convinces an editor that her story has merit.

Nellie's journey is fraught with danger - both physical and mental - as she seeks at first to gain information for her article but then quickly just fights to survive. The conditions she encounters are horrific, and the women she meets have stories that tear at her heart.

As this novel is based on a true story, I had no doubt that Nellie would make it out alive, but I still felt the tension and danger! I also finished the novel with a desire to learn more about the real Nellie. This is a fascinating story, and I'm so glad I read it. Also, just a heads up for anyone wondering, although the book description seems to tease a romance, this is not at all a romance novel. Nellie has a couple minor flirtations, but there's really no romantic storyline at all. 4-1/2 stars.

3 Great Concept Stars
* * * Spoiler Free
We as Women have had so many hurdles through the beginning of time, that it is a wonder we survive. This book looks at New York City’s Gilded Age and how women who did not "fit" the rules or ways their husbands wanted were systemically sent to asylums with no way of getting out.

We are given much to consider and it is a fearless journalist who takes matters into her own hands by going undercover to expose the truth.

Our times are different now, yet still the same in the wish to control actions that do not "fit" the rules some have deemed.

Sometimes a book comes along that has all the right ingredients, but the measurements are off. You want to love it, but it's not quite right. That's how I feel about Maya Rodale's The Mad Girls of New York, the first in a new series following the exploits of real-life trailblazer Nellie Bly. All the components of a great story are here (Bly's real life certainly is that great story), but issues with tone make it a more confusing than inspiring read.

It's 1887, and Nellie Bly is newly arrived in New York and ready to make her mark in journalism. The only problem is, she can't get anyone to take her seriously — until in desperation, she pitches to feign madness and get committed to the infamous asylum on Blackwell's Island. There are whispers of women disappearing off the streets only to be sent to the island for supposed insanity, and the few tales of what actually goes on there are horrifying. If Nellie can survive long enough to get out and write her exposé, her career will be made. But conditions are worse than even she imagined —and while she's locked up, a rival reporter is trying to scoop her story!

While reading, I thought a lot about old movies, particularly the ones concerned with the newspaper business. In the sections outside Blackwell's, Rodale seems to be trying to emulate the tone of films like His Girl Friday (1940) and Roxie Hart (1942) — sharp, fast-paced, darkly funny with a core of truth about the news rat race and society. It's a difficult balance to execute on paper, and I think Rodale fails primarily because she's too earnest. Her message isn't about the ethical pitfalls of reporting the news or the public's obsession with scandal. It's about the desperate plight of women in a patriarchal society, with our intrepid girl reporter bent on truth and justice!

And that earnestness pushes the tone from gallows humor and those great '40s films to farce and Natalie Wood's Maggie DuBoise in The Great Race (1965). (Maggie, of course, as many have noticed, is an obvious take on Bly, with her impassioned speeches and journalistic stunts.) And while Maggie worked in a film sending up every character type, in a book that's uncommitted to either a dramatic or comedic extreme, Nellie presents more as a mouthpiece for the author's agenda than as a fully realized character. To me, it all came off as Feminist™️ rhetoric that's a bit too self-righteous and preachy, a tad internally misogynistic in places (Lord save ME from women who belittle women whose dreams/behaviors are more traditionally "feminine" — the whole point of feminism is that we all deserve to choose), and far too obvious with it's 21st century talking points. Which is not to say there weren't people back then fighting for social justice — Nellie Bly really existed, after all, and wrote extensively about the lives of women in a man's world. But with more than a hundred years of social change and scholarly debate between them, 19th and 21st century people are simply not going to talk about these issues in the exact same way, and the jarring anachronism was a distraction.

However, I know I think too much about contemporary vs. historical fiction writing and the way it affects storytelling, so maybe the above issues won't bother others as much as they did me. The nice thing is that, tone aside, it is a good story and talks about very real issues. If you want to read more about the history of women in medical systems and in the workforce, this isn't a bad starting place. Rodale's author's note is certainly filled with events and people you want to run off and read about right away.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.