The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale

An exciting novel based on the fearless reporter Nellie Bly, who would stop at nothing to expose injustices against women in early 19th century New York, even at the risk of her own life and freedom.

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.

 

 

Book 1
Buy Links

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Mad Girls of New York is the debut in a brand-new series by Maya Rodale, Nellie Bly.

To be honest, I was unaware of the Nellie Bly story until I delved into this novel. While reading, Nellie was reminiscent of Sarah Howard from The Alienist in her determination to get to the truth, while dealing with the limitations of the era for a progressive woman living in a man's world, set to the backdrop of New York City's Gilded Age.

Based on true events, this is the fictionalized account of Nellie Bly, a journalist willing to do anything necessary to get to the root of the story, depicting it as accurately as possible, even if that meant committing herself into an asylum.

The story is propelled by Nellie's struggles in Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum as her narration draws to light the atrocities her fellow women endured. I won't go into great depth, as this is truly what the story entails, and I wish readers to view it through their own eyes.

I'm thankful the heavy content wasn't made shallow by a strong romance thread, other than a hint here or there, as that is part of the human condition. The heaviness was offset with Maya Rodale's personal brand of humor, the levity much needed and appreciated. The strength of the novel is the connection between all the women, as they support one another.

Captivated from start to finish, read cover-to-cover, an intriguing take on a real-life woman's bravery, while allowing the reader to transport themselves back in time to where we can appreciate how far we have come as women, giving us the bravery to never stop making strides for equality.

The only con of the novel was the shift in points of view. I enjoyed being in Nellie's head and felt the shift to others was unnecessary. I wasn't invested in the story from their perspective, slightly annoyed to be thrust from Nellie. While I understood it on the whole at the completion of the novel, I didn't enjoy those points of view while reading.

Highly recommend to fans of the author, and I greatly anticipate more from the fictionalized journey of Nellie Bly, as well as from the engaging side characters who were introduced. However, I do wish to point out to those who are seeking historical romance, this novel is by no means a romance.

 

 

MAYA RODALE is the best-selling and award-winning author of funny, feminist historical fiction and romance. A champion of the romance genre and its readers, she is also the author of Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels, Explained. Maya has reviewed romance for NPR Books and has appeared in Bustle, Glamour, Shondaland, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and PBS. She lives in New York City.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Mad Girls of New York (Nellie Bly #1) by Maya Rodale to read and review.