Following Nellie Bly: Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World

by Rosemary J. Brown

Intrepid journalist Nellie Bly raced through a ‘man’s world’ — alone and literally with just the clothes on her back — to beat the fictional record set by Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days. She won the race on 25 January 1890, covering 21,740 miles by ocean liner and train in 72 days, and became a global celebrity. Although best known for her record-breaking journey, even more importantly Nellie Bly pioneered investigative journalism and paved the way for women in the newsroom. Throughout her career, Bly’s reportage gave voices to vulnerable people and challenged oppression wherever she found it. Her steadfast conviction that ‘nothing is impossible’ makes the world she circled a better place.

Adventurer, journalist and author, Rosemary J Brown, set off 125 years later to retrace Nellie Bly’s footsteps in an expedition registered with the Royal Geographical Society. Through her recreation of that epic global journey, she brings to life Nellie Bly’s remarkable achievements and shines a light on one of the world's greatest female adventurers and a forgotten heroine of history.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Biography

184 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 2021

About the author

Rosemary J Brown is a London-based journalist. An avid traveller, she is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Churchill Fellow. In her quest to put female adventurers ‘back on the map’ she speaks at the Globetrotters Club, Women of the World festivals, Women's Institute and schools. She helped to organise The Heritage of Women in Exploration conference at the Royal Geographical Society.

Rosemary volunteers with people seeking asylum, homeless people and community groups. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, plays in a ukulele band and escapes to her beloved hilltop village in France when she can. She has lived in Washington, DC, Florida and Paris, France.

Reviews

[Kirsty ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only we weren't in lockdown (a common thought) because this book gave me major wanderlust and the need to be travelling again. Nellie Bly decided to take on Phileas Fogg and go around the world in less than 80 days and author Rosemary J Brown is now retracing her footsteps. It's a lovely researched book and covers both journeys. I enjoyed it from both an historical point of view and a travel book. I really want to go read more about Nellie now as well as the travelling. An inspiring read.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nellie Bly was many things and how she is remembered largely depends on who you ask. For Brown, it was for Bly's emulation of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days where Nellie followed the same route as the book and made it in 72 days. Brown set out to "recreate" and "relive" Nellie's experience--in thought only. What the book featured is a fan who worried about safety and image more than reliving Bly's experience and quite a bit of cultural stereotyping. Overall, the book was okay but I can see where it would be problematic for people sensitive to socio-economic differences and implied racial prejudice.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for the opportunity to read an advance reader's copy.

[Milou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this review just after I had to rebook my holliday. Oh lockdown, will you ever end… I am so sad to do so as well, because this book made me want to go on a really long vacation. I constantly found myself on Google looking up pictures of all the wonderful places Nellie and Rosemary visited. Let’s say may head is Full of plans for adventures I want to go on.

Last year I got a graphic novel through Netgalley that told about the life of Nellie Bly. I didn’t like the novel, but did get very interested in this amazing woman. So when I saw Brown’s book on the site I knew I Had to request it. And what a wonderful decision it was.

Nellie was much more than a famous news reporter. She paved the way for female journalists, opening newsroom doors to women like me, and pioneered investigative reporting – the kind of journalism that brings about change and makes the world she circled a better place. Nellie Bly defied the status quo, gave voices to the vulnerable, championed women’s rights and challenges us, still today, to believe that ‘nothing is impossible if one applies a certain amount of energy in the right direction’.

Nellie started her career in investigative journalism by feigning insanity and getting herself locked up in an asylum, and upon her release 10 days later wrote about the horrible treatment she and the other patients received. This book however tells us about how she took on the challenge set by Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days, and in the winter of 1889 she traveled around the world in 72 days, by herself, with a single bag for luggage and only 1 dress. This during a time where a woman couldn’t even travel to the other city of the city unchaperoned. We also follow Rosemary Brown as she follows in Nellie’s footsteps 125 years later (though with much nicer accomodations and comfortable modes of travel). Rosemary did mainly so in spirit though, as she skipped the Middle East (for safety reasons) and crossed all of the United States by plane from Japan to New York. Though in a way understandable, this was quite a shame. I would have liked to have read Nellie’s accounts of these places as well.

Rosemary is a journalist herself, and she can definitely write. It was just wonderful to read her travel journal, interspersed with quotes from Nellie. Although this may seem like some heavy reading from the outside, it feels more like Rosemary is just talking to us than anything. It was very nice to see how much things have changed in the 125 years between the two journeys. Places like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore have grown and developed enourmously from the colonial places Nellie visited. It was nice to see Brown hunt down the few remaining temples, statues and the one hotel that have remained.

This was a very enjoyable read for me, and an inspiring one for sure. Brown comes of as a bit rich and priviliged at times (especially the letter she receives from her daughter at the start of the book came as a shock to me), but overall has made me want to visit places I never thought I would want to go to. Be aware though that this book may not be as Nellie centered as you might want to.

[Randee Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nellie Bly has been one of my personal heroes for many years now, I will read anything about her that I come across. Hence why I requested FOLLOWING NELLIE BLY from NetGalley. All I needed to see was her name, I hit the request button. I was a little torn on how I felt about the book. I enjoyed reading about Nellie’s trip around the world that took her 72 days—8 days less than Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days. In 1890, Nellie traveled mostly by train and on ships. And she did it all in the same sensible dress and carrying no more than what fit in her small bag.

125 years later—while carrying more luggage and with much nicer accommodations and easier ways to travel—Rosemary J. Brown retraces parts of Nellie’s route. Traveling through the Middle East was just too dangerous, and Brown flew over most of the United States before arriving in New York. While it is clear that Brown has a passion for Bly and that she did her research, it seemed she was more on a quest to find Nellie’s ghost lingering in some of these places than she was in tracing the exact route of Nellie’s journey.

It was interesting to see how drastically things have changed since Nellie’s trip back in 1890. Along with England and France, Brown visited China, Japan, Singapore, and Ceylon/Sri Lanka. Brown sought out some of the places that Nellie visited while she waited for the next train or boat so she could continue her travels. A few of the places remain—including one hotel that Nellie stayed at. There are also a few sites that were preserved as historic monuments. But a great deal has changed—some by man and others by nature. I was fascinated by the parts that described Nellie’s journey. And I enjoyed the parts were Brown showed how the areas had changed. But quickly grew bored during some of the extended parts about her “vacation.” Overall, an interesting travelogue but not quite the book I expected based on the description.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Anne Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up having mixed feelings about this book. As interesting as the idea of journalist Nellie Bly traveling around the world to beat the fictional “Around the World in 80 Days” record, and then a modern journalist making the same trip 125 years later sounds, it didn’t translate the way I thought it would. I didn’t feel like I ended the book knowing any more about Bly than when I started (which wasn’t much), or about travel in the late 1800s. Did the trip change anything for anyone or just give Nellie and her newspaper some fame? Did she ever go back and see any of the places she raced through, since the point of her trip seemed more about doing it fast than experiencing cultures and peoples? There were a few points, especially in China and Japan and visiting Jules Verne, where there was more of a feel for what Nellie saw and experienced and thought, and I enjoyed those parts. The modern travel of author Brown is where we most often get the historical context for what was going on where Nellie was at the time, but I wasn’t generally a big fan of Brown’s travel experience. The link to Nellie is thin in most places, although kudos to Brown for trying, and rarely held my interest.

Overall, you could tell Brown is a huge fan of Bly, but I never felt like I got enough of a picture of her, her life, or her travels to be nearly as interested myself.

I received an Arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the very first time, Nellie and I are in the same room. I have a feeling there will not be many moments like this when I can be so sure. Here at the Maison Jules Verne, we are in an enclosed space; our encounter is inevitable. Her footsteps will grow fainter on city streets, along esplanades, at ports and in train stations where I may not be able to find her, to distinguish her. Many of the places that defined Nellie’s voyage will have vanished over time. The ocean liners are no more; few of the hotels she passed through have survived. My adventure is about seeing what she saw and doing what she did. Although I will follow in Nellie’s footsteps with the nose of a bloodhound and the skills of a journalist, I know that I may never be so close to her again. Her photograph, the classic head and shoulders portrait with her hair pinned up over a sweeping brown fringe, a crocheted starburst collar embellishing her dark silk embossed dress, is displayed in a curio cabinet here. It was a souvenir of her visit.

To sit on a quiet deck, to have a star-lit sky the only light above or about, to hear the water kissing the prow of the ship, is, to me, paradise. They can talk of the companionship of men, the splendor of the sun, the softness of moonlight, the beauty of music, but give me a willow chair on a quiet deck, the world with its worries and noise and prejudices lost in distance, the glare of the sun, the cold light of the moon blotted out by the dense blackness of night. Let me rest rocked gently by the rolling sea, in a nest of velvety darkness, my only light the soft twinkling of the myriads of stars in the quiet sky above; my music, the sound of the kissing waters, cooling the brain and easing the pulse; my companionship, dreaming my own dreams. Give me that and I have happiness in its perfection. AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVENTY-TWO DAYS, book, By Nellie Bly, 1890

I tried a new deep reading exercise that was inspired by depictions of the journalist/stunt reporter Elizabeth Cochrane, rechristened as Nellie Bly, that made me catch my breath in a shocked way (could that be more misogynistic?), but that also led me to dive deep into her life and particularly the trip she made around the world in 1889.

It helped me realized the decolonizing exercises I have been doing for indigenous and BIPOC literature is becoming more natural. We all must acknowledge the racism, sexism, colonialism, etc. inherent in the times that appear in so many writings of the times, and it is right to discuss all those things, but Nellie Bly seems to be criticized for her boldness to be assertive, daring, and really good at the journalism of the day in several of these books. The patriarchy talking through too many writers, male and female. Over and over, some of these writers wrote of how Bly did not have any writing talent and constantly promoted herself over the story, and many of the books had endless quotes from other journalists about her, instead of what Bly wrote. That is not what I read, and I sought out some of her articles to compare as well. She was a storyteller of the finest form.

By crafting long-form narratives that stretched over weeks and read like novels, using engaging female narrators to explore issues of deep concern to women, and promising real-world results, stunt reporters changed laws, launched labor movements, and redefined what it meant to be a journalist. Kim Todd

Her achievements are many. She defied convention to pioneer investigative journalism, circle the world faster than anyone ever had and become a leading businesswoman. She was the first woman journalist reporting from the Eastern Front – Serbia and Austria – in World War One. Along with reporting on the women’s suffrage convention in Washington DC, she rode as sentinel in the Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington DC. Throughout her career, Bly’s newspaper reportage gave voices to vulnerable people, championed women’s rights and challenged injustice. Rosemary Brown

“Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s ‘Girl Stunt Reporters’ – Nellie Bly and the Women Who Changed Journalism Forever” by Kim Todd, the last book I read, was the best, even though it is about all the female reporters of the time, but a more historical approach to the topic that actually felt the most true to the groundbreaking work of the women.

My final judgement on the subject is that there is no way Bly would have been so popular and successful without talent, intelligence, and instinct. I feel a kinship to her, since as a nurse, I often reenact her approach to help people help themselves.

Storytelling is an art, and movies and acting, novels and writing require the same talents. Bly is truly fascinating and deserves better than some of these depictions of her. I always try to think what the subject, or a descendant, about would think or feel about what I am writing; and that should be the north star for an unbiased, fair account. Writing reviews can be hard, because I do not want to offend or minimize the huge amount of work that goes into a book, and the rest of the authors express their admiration for Bly, so I believe it is the language and the opinions of our day that might be so judgmental of her day. Also, reality television has made the tabloid style of writing the only one that sells. I get it. I am not a literary critic or a feminism expert, and I do think that even flawed books are worth reading.

Stunt reporters and their treatment raise the question of what it means to write in a female body, from an overtly female perspective, in their time and in our own. It is the same question that haunts many women who write honestly about their lives: how to tell the truth and still be taken seriously. Kim Todd

Thanks to The World’s revival of the shocking as daily newspaper fare… women in journalism had only one hope of escaping work on the dreary society pages: the new, wild-side genre of “stunt” or “detective” reporting with which Bly’s name would fast become synonymous. Although such exploits had been attempted before by male reporters in the name of public service and, more important, wider newspaper circulation, this one launched the decade of Girl Reporter Derring-Do. Brooke Kroeger

For this deep read, I read in this order:
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World By Matthew Goodman
Around the World in 72 Days by Nellie Bly
The Race Around the World. Lakeside Classics by Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland (abridged)
Following Nellie Bly: Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World by Rosemary J. Brown
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (just to find any easter eggs! I think there was one, about the bridge that fell after the train crossed over it in the Rockies. Bly (and the journalists of times) could use sensationalistic language in both directions, positive and negative, but I also appreciated their humor, which Bly had in spades.)
The Mad Girls of New York: A Nellie Bly Novel by Maya Rodale (light, positive)
Nellie Bly: Daredevil. Reporter. Feminist by Brooke Kroeger (official? Biographer)
Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters” – Nellie Bly and the Women Who Changed Journalism Forever by Kim Todd
THE NELLIE BLY COLLECTION VOLUME III: The World (1887-1888) by Editor Tri Fritz
Dispatches from papers from and about Dorothy Kilgallen, a reporter that tried to beat 2 other male reporters in a similar journey in 1936.

I would recommend reading Bly and Elizabeth’s Bisland’s own works first especially The Race Around the World. Lakeside Classics by Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland (abridged), some of Bly’s archived articles at http://www.historicjournalism.com/nel... and then “Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters” – Nellie Bly and the Women Who Changed Journalism Forever” by Kim Todd.

This book repeats some of the patriarchal themes of others, but less so, and is a great read of an adventure following Nellie’s footsteps. I want to go, too.

Beams cast by the Calais lighthouse painted the sea and sky with ribbons of light. ‘Like the laths of an unfinished partition,’ Nellie wrote of the patterns playing out around them. The beams brushed so close that she felt she needed to dodge them. Their radiance enthralled her; she wondered if the people of Calais could ever see the stars.

The port area at Calais, where Nellie and Greaves strolled freely, is now a fortress. White wire fences stretching more than sixteen feet high, topped with coiled razor wire, run alongside the train tracks and motorways approaching the port. CCTV cameras and armed police, often with guard dogs, patrol this ‘Ring of Steel’ where asylum seekers and migrants have gathered since 1999 in hopes of crossing the Channel to seek sanctuary in the United Kingdom. The French and British governments, along with the European Union, have united to prevent them. Hundreds, at one time thousands, of vulnerable people wait here.

In the distance, above the rolling treetops, they could see the sacred site of Adam’s Peak rising from the Central Highlands of the island. Adam’s Peak has drawn pilgrims for more than a millennium to pay homage to a holy footprint embedded on its summit. As the SS Victoria anchored in the harbour that morning, pilgrims would have been winding their way down after a sunrise trek that led them more than a mile into the sky. Four religions lay claim to the yard-long footprint. It could belong to Buddha or Lord Shiva; or as Christians and Muslims maintain, it could be the first step Adam made after his banishment from the Garden of Eden.

At last, the ivory colonnades of the five-storey Grand Oriental Hotel come into view. I am ready to be here. It is the only hotel still standing that hosted Nellie on her world journey.

I awake to Binara Full Moon day across Sri Lanka. It is a poya, a Buddhist public holiday, when businesses close, alcohol and meat are forbidden, and women in white flock to temples. The Sri Lanka Daily News, which I am reading over a bowl of fruit in the hotel’s Harbour Room restaurant, has a full report. It is 9.00 am and I am gazing at the port where Nellie arrived at precisely the same time on 8 December 1889. Today’s Binara Poya commemorates the value of women in the Buddhist religion, says the Daily News. This poya marks the founding of the Bhikkhuni order of ordained nuns established by Buddha in the Third Century, the first time that women were accepted in monastic life.

Singapore, the world’s third most densely populated country, is a monument to order, consumerism and futuristic architecture. But hidden under its ultra-modern mask, vestiges of the island that Nellie saw endure. Bundled between skyscrapers, graciously restored Victorian government buildings now devoted to art and culture speak of Nellie’s era. Away from colonial grandeur, architecture was shaped from indigenous materials and reflected local cultures, styles and the surrounding environment. Singapore was raw and exotic, not shiny and synthetic. It was, and still is, a melting pot of races, cultures and religions occupying the world’s only landmass classified as an island, a city and a country

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Nellie Bly before, but I'm so glad I found out about this wonderful woman who went against men's opinions from her time and proved she could do it. Nellie Blue followed in Phileas Fogg, the character of Jules Verne, footsteps, and will break his record of traveling the world in eighty days. The author's journey in the footsteps of Nellie Bly was a bit difficult to digest. Her journey was more about a rich person's journey than following Bly. It could have been removed, otherwise it was a good book.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure I've come across a couple of those books that offer inspiring potted biographies of women for girls to feel empowered by that have in some way covered the Nellie Bly story, but back in 2014 when the more contemporary aspects of this book took place I am sure I was ignorant of the woman and the things that should make her a household name. Fresh from almost inventing investigative journalism, when she feigned lunacy to see what it was like in New York's asylums for women, she asked her newspaper bosses if she should not try and do a Phileas Fogg, and get solo around the world in under eighty days. As it happens, they said no so often, even though she new the timetables said it was easily doable, that when she finally got the green light she had 72 hours to get the one dress she wore the entire eleven weeks made for her, and manage all the other preparations. She was in London before she went to the right people to get her passport. She met Jules Verne and his lovely wife in France before speeding on the path of his fictional creation. And all that is mirrored by our author now, who went to the same places, hanging on her coat-tails and getting abetted by her ghost, for the 125th anniversary of it all.

One of the flaws of this book is that it seems it could have been better if we weren't told copiously before we really get going the end result of it all. (It also waits to halfway round Bly's world to drop what could have been a narrative bombshell on Nellie, and then kills the surprise of that stone dead, too.) Despite this author's stated ambition of being journalistically brief, borrowing the less-is-more dictum that she deems Verne to have used, we're also told and told again that Bly set off with everything in one tiny, carriable Gladstone bag, with just some valuables slung round her neck or in pockets and a waterproof draped over her arm when not used.

But this still wasn't a bad read at all. Readers might come to this thinking Rosemary Brown did all the voyaging and journeying Bly reported having done, although with the world being a lot less friendly and with far fewer packet ships large swathes were left out. Readers might see the connection made by the author with the Royal Geographical Society in relation to her travels and expect this to be a heavy, lecture-styled travel book, when it's much more the WI afternoon talk. But I think it's as good as it might have been, once you've considered just how much the world has changed in those years. Only one hotel is at all the same thing that Bly was staying in, temples have been demolished and reborn, whole cities have had to come back from the dead. But when Brown and Bly do converge, whether that be in dissimilar or identical situations, the writing proves itself good enough to be an entertaining travel book. It ends with the author paying suitably respectful homage to Bly's birthplace, beginnings and final resting place, and I can't tell from this what has happened in the several years between then and publication, but this was probably worth the wait. Much more cosy than the gung-ho original, for many obvious reasons, Brown's bummellings make a worthwhile purchase for travel writing fans.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

From fiction to fact: in 1890 American journalist Nellie Bly was inspired by fictional Phileas Fogg to go around the world (in less than 80 days). And 125 years later, Rosemary Brown puts on big boots to retrace her steps. Rosemary describes Nellies thoughts and observations, and then adds her own accounts of her copy cat around-the-world trip. Of course much has changed. But some small moments and experiences are the same.
We all love travel and adventure. But Nellie did it all without modern communication systems, and all her goods in one small bag. Nellie is an inspiration.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cool idea!, following the steps of Nellie Bly, the greatest female journalist who ever lived, around the world in 80 days; and Nellie did it in only 72 days! She packed her bag with essentials, which included her slippers and her cold creme, wore her newly and specially made dress, and off she went. On the way, she visited Jules Verne, the author of Around The World In Eighty Days, and his wife at their home in France. From November 14, 1889 to January, 1890, she traveled around the world, visiting Italy, China, Japan, Singapore, Ceylon, San Francisco, and back to Manhattan..(only naming a few of the places she visited). The author of Following Nellie Bly, Rosemary J. Brown, traveled from September 6 to October 8, 2014, and followed her route. I was struck by the hardship of Nellie's travel by carriage and ship. Ms. Brown had travel by air. Nellie was incredibly brave and stalwart, and so dedicated to get the story, that even when saying goodbye as she was on a ship beginning her travel from New York, she swallowed her emotional good bye and left!
This is such a cool book and bravos go to Ms. Brown for her idea and her dedication, and her thorough research. Pen and Sword Publishing puts out the best books, and this is one of them. Thank you to Pen and Sword Publishing, as well as to Netgalley for the epub. And I have to mention that Ms. Brown raised money for UNICEF through her travels...again BRAVO!

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. Must admit that I knew the name Nellie Bly, but knew little about who she was. As a young journalist in the late 1800s, she decided to recreate the journey from the book Around the World in 80 days. The author from present day decided to recreate Nelliés journey, including using some of her packing list. I enjoyed this one a lot, although travel books are best in short bursts for my taste. Inspirational and adventurous book. One I highly recommend.

[Kendra · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this novel, a rich woman entertains herself by traveling to all of the places visited by Nelly Bly in Bly's 80-day round-the-world trip. Author Brown doesn't recreate the trip, but leisurely takes in the sights at each stop, and tells readers about her lush surroundings, luxury hotel experiences, couture shopping, and other activities that are totally oblivious as to why Bly made her trip or what she was really about. It's an excuse for junkets and the book serves as an excellent example of how the 1% live. Go read Bly's original account of her trip instead--yes, it is problematic in terms of race and class, but not nearly as problematic as Brown's book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a delightful, charming book, and I am grateful that it took me on a virtual tour in Nellie Bly's footsteps when international travel is banned from Australia. Intrepid journalist Nellie Bly decided to try to beat the fictional Phileas Fog's whirlwind trip around the world, and succeeded. She set off with only one useful dress and very little else, and travelled to several different places, including France, Sri Lanka, Japan and China. One of the highlights of her trip was visiting Phileas's creator Jules Verne and his wife at their home in Amiens, France. She often travelled in style, staying at some grand hotels, but she also had to put up with some awful conditions in various places. Nellie captured hearts wherever she went, especially in her beloved Japan .

Rosemary J. Brown set off to find Nellie, and she found her in a few places, but the world has changed so much with natural disasters, demolished buildings and other changes that it was hard to find spaces which had remained exactly the same. However, Nellie's spirits was with her, and she writes vivid and colourful descriptions of her travels. I especially love her description of beautiful Colombo, which really made me want to visit. She had a much easier time than Nellie on occasion, for example, she travels from London to Colombo in eleven hours; it took Nellie sixteen days!

Like Nellie, Rosemary J. Brown is concerned about violations of human rights, and her descriptions of executions in China both then and now will make your blood run cold. Nellie's fascination with them was rather macabre, though.

I would be happy to read this book again, and it made me want to read more about Nellie Bly.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I’ve been fascinated with Nellie Bly for years and was excited to see a new book about her life. I assumed it was another biography, but it is actually more of a travelogue in which the author retraces Nellie’s around the world adventure. The book is part travel/cultural journal and part history, and includes a bit of biographical information, as well.

The author, Rosemary Brown, begins by talking about her love for Victorian female adventurers and “how they defied convention.” The idea for this book came to her during the winter of 2013, when she decided to reenact Nellie’s trip, although her trip would be via plane rather than by boat. Coincidentally, or not, 2014 was the 125th anniversary of Nellie’s journey around the world. It was the perfect time to retrace some of Nellie’s steps.

Brown, who lives in England, followed part of Nellie’s trip around the world, searching for her in each place she visited. In some locations, Nellie wasn’t difficult to find; in others, there was little or no trace remaining of the past. I enjoyed the author’s lively writing style and I loved learning about the history of each country Brown visited. I also found myself wanting to visit each place and have added more countries to my travel bucket list!

As a fan of Nellie Bly, and travel, I was super excited to read this book and it did not disappoint.


Favorite line: “I always have a comfortable feeling that nothing is impossible if one applies a certain amount of energy in the right direction. If you want to do it, you can do it.” Quoting Nellie

Thanks to NetGalley and Pen and Sword History Books for the ARC.

[Natasja | natasjalovesbooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @51%

I'm not sure who this is for. Most of the book is just Brown quoting Bly's famous travel journal, and then visiting a handful of the destinations Bly visited with the excuse of following in her footsteps (and then usually not finding ~the spot~ she knew Bly had been in, which seems to be all she really cared about).

The parts about Brown's own journey were short and felt very surface-like; there's a weird preoccupation with how she and her various companions are dressed, which I personally didn't care about at all but it felt like the descriptions of clothes were the only thing Brown really noticed and cared about herself. The descriptions of her travels, on the other hand, felt like she had done a massive Google search and then just dumped all of that information in instead of describing her own experiences, thoughts or feelings.

This mostly felt like a privileged woman who wanted a vacation where she could feel a little connected to one of her personal heroes while doing some shopping and sipping drinks, but instead of being upfront about that, it's cloaked in this desire to follow in Bly's footsteps (probably in order to get a book deal). Nevermind that she decides to forego half of the places Bly went. As long as you mention Nellie Bly and your tight schedule enough, no one will notice.

I received an ARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nellie Bly is so inspirational! She pushes the boundaries on women’s role in society during the 19th century and embarks on a fascinating, ambitious and courageous solo journey around the world. Nothing was ‘impossible’ for Nellie. I was astonished to read about how she even managed to get inside the New York City Lunatic Asylum by convincing them she was insane and having to endure inhumane treatment all in the name of research and journalism.

This book provides a colourful and insightful whistle stop tour in multiple destinations along the way from the U.K. to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to Canton to Tokyo... This book gives me all the feels of wanderlust and a sense of adventure reading about Nellie Bly’s stories and observations, and also Rosemary’s own adoration of Nellie Bly and reliving Nellie Bly’s adventures.

As a huge lover of travelling myself, I admire Nellie’s bravery and determination to complete this challenging race particularly where travelling was longer (by sea and by train), and where international travel in particular for women travelling solo was not easy and more dangerous. I get the sense that Nellie found this aspect to be thrilling! Love how Nellie fell in love with Japan!

A remarkable story about a remarkable woman! And a great escapist and adventurous read.

[WallofText · Rating 3 out of 5]

{Digital copy provided by NetGalley}

This short travelogue style trip following the famous journalist, adventurer, and renowned 19th century woman Nellie Bly’s journey around the globe is a fun and educational experience. Interesting are the inclusion of visuals and the comparison between modern day and the 19th century, as well as the feeling of movement and enthusiasm.

This book heavily relies on Nellie Bly’s own account of her journey, at times to excess. In general this book meanders around a bit too much for my taste, While I appreciate the ample knowledge included in this book, the author spends much too long on at best tangentially related subjects such as Ulysses S. Grant’s visit to Japan or the history of the city Apollo. The pictures included in the book would have worked much nicer if they had been integrated in the respective chapters instead of tacked on in the back, and the digital copy did not allow zooming in on text or pictures, making it a bit hard to read.

While I think the contents of this book could have worked better as a series of newspaper articles, I still enjoyed this trip around the world, especially in a time when travel is impossible.

3.5 stars

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these days of pandemic I do miss being able to travel beyond the daily dog walks in my neighborhood. I'm glad I got to travel when I did, back in my youth - sadly those days will never return. Now, as I dream of travel, what a joy it was to encounter this book and spend time in the days of the great Nellie Bly as they are seen through the travels of Rosemary Brown. It's not possible to match Nellie's around the world trip but this was a treat for this armchair traveler.
One thing that I found fascinating that connects Nellie Bly to Rick Steves - traveling vast distances with nothing more than a carry-on. I've tried that and came up way short. So settle down in a comfy chair with a cuppa and take a mental trip in the footsteps of Nellie Bly. I enjoyed every page and was left with a desire to go back and read more about Nellie Bly.
My thanks to the publisher Pen and Sword and to. NeGallery for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Kristin- Kristin's Bookstack · Rating 4 out of 5]

”If I could do it as quickly as Phineas Fogg did, I should go.” Nellie Bly.

Rosemary writes about her trip around the world following in Nellie Bly’s footsteps. Rosemary first learns of Nellie Bly (a famous woman journalist that traveled the world in 72 days from 1889-1890) in 2013. Inspired by Nellie’s experience, Rosemary plans a trip in 2014 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Nellie’s journey. Rosemary makes her trip in 27 days following many of the same routes as her predecessor.

I love memoirs and this was an intriguing one! The book is beautifully written and well researched. I loved getting to know more about Nellie Bly and reading about Rosemary’s experiences as she visited the same places Nellie did. It made me antsy to travel again! This is the perfect book for readers who enjoy a good memoir!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

[L. O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Determination and persistence propelled Nellie Bly. She convinced a New York newspaper editor that she could and should be the fastest traveler to circuit the world. Nellie pushed herself to prove women can do anything they want to, with persistence. The reluctant editor finally agreed and Nellie crammed essentials in a leather grip bag, picked up her newly stitched travel coat, and was at sea within a couple of days.
This pioneer investigative journalist had already got herself arrested and confined to New York City's women's insane asylum to reveal the horrendous treatment of inmates. She was the kind of woman we love for her tales of true adventure, human generosity and great good luck.

The author, Rosemary Brown, is a great traveler in her own right!

[Kirsty Keddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed being introduced to the amazing Nellie Bly. I hadn’t heard of her before which is unforgivable of the history books really.
Well done to Rosemary Brown for this work in publicising Nellie’s life and achievements although at times Rosemary’s own journey was a bit half hearted and cut rather a lot of corners. Entertaining read, I read cover to cover in a day.
Nellie will certainly make me rethink my packing strategy for future travels! I loved this quote: ‘It will be seen that if one is traveling simply for the sake of traveling and not for the purpose of impressing one’s fellow passengers, the problem of baggage becomes a very simple one’.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging, informative and charming read. I had never heard of Nellie Bly before reading Rosemary Brown's insightful recount of the journey which made Nellie famous along with her heroic career as a Journalist. During these claustrophobic Covid times, Rosemary and Nellie whisked me away to far off lands as their paths intertwined. Rosemary Brown succeeded in resuscitating Nellie Bly from forgotten female in history to her rightful place as Pioneering Woman Adventurer and Journalist in the 19th Century.

[Paige D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following Nellie Bly: Her Record-Breaking Race Around the World is an inspiring blend of biography and modern travel reconstruction that brings Nellie Bly’s extraordinary achievements vividly to life. Rosemary J. Brown highlights Bly’s groundbreaking journey and her lasting impact on investigative journalism and women’s rights, while also retracing her global route to add a contemporary perspective. The result is an engaging and educational narrative that celebrates courage, ambition, and historical legacy.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems like it should be up my alley, but I didn't entirely enjoy it. There is something very very different in today's day and age. The premise seems cute in practice but entirely unenvironmental and a bit silly in practice. Also, where are the citations and footnotes referencing the works being cited? Just because you are writing a travelogue doesn't mean you shouldn't use best practices.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my reviews, but all opinions are my own.

[Suroor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story about a woman who circumnavigated the globe in 1888. Nellie Bly was a journalist and when she suggested to her editor that she try to beat the record of Phileas Fogg, the hero of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, she was told she couldn't do it because she was a woman.

She not only did it, but beat Fogg's record! Rosemary J. Brown follows in her footsteps, looking for the things that have changed—or not—since Nellie Bly's trip.

[Andrea Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author recreates the trip around the world as best she can, made by Nellie Bly on the 125th anniversary. The world has changed and there are some places unsafe to travel. An interesting idea and a fun adventure. I’ve always liked Nellie Bly, a woman ahead of her time. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting adventure around the world but found the blending of Nellie's and the author's trips to be distracting.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Very interesting read! Highly recommend for history buffs out there.

[Betty Grossheim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very worth reading. It follows both Nellie and Rosemary’s journeys around the world.

[Nicole Overmoyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this.