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Ten Days in a Mad-House

Nellie Bly

Start date: July 1, 2018

Finish date: July 31, 2018

Discussion: Short Story/Novella Collection

Why we're reading this: July 2018 Short Story Read
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What Members Thought

Feb 28, 2010 Christy B rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, feminism-and-gender-studies, nf-victorian

I do not know where to even start with this. The fact that this was non fiction just blew my mind. I've read fiction books that take place in mad houses during the 19th century, but the fiction was more of a reality than I had originally thought.

Nellie Bly is a journalist and gets an assignment in 1887 to go undercover and spend ten days in a mad-house and report her findings. She goes about this by purchasing a room in a women's boarding house and acting peculiar. She says that all the other wo I do not know where to even start with this. The fact that this was non fiction just blew my mind. I've read fiction books that take place in mad houses during the 19th century, but the fiction was more of a reality than I had originally thought.

Nellie Bly is a journalist and gets an assignment in 1887 to go undercover and spend ten days in a mad-house and report her findings. She goes about this by purchasing a room in a women's boarding house and acting peculiar. She says that all the other women are crazy; she sits up all night; she keeps asking where her trunks are. None of this is even remotely crazy behavior, but the other boarders become agitated and the police are called in. Just goes to show how quickly a label was placed on somebody. Eventually, she is declared mad and sent off to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island.

When Nellie is in the mad house, she discovers that absolutely nothing is being done to help anyone, and just how quickly women were admitted. Some women were just getting over physical illnesses, some women couldn't even speak English! Nellie acts perfectly sane once she arrives, but no matter what she says, it's blown over as 'ravings.' Someone women actually ask the doctors to test them to see if they are insane or not, but they are ignored. And the doctors do absolutely nothing. They do not even listen to the women. Everything they say is written off as ravings of a mad woman.

The women were fed food that wasn't even fit for animal consumption. There was absolutely no heat, so the women practically froze to death. The women were given baths in cold water that wasn't even changed until the water got thick. ICK. The nurses used physical violence, along with agitating some of the women to act mad in front of the doctors. Some women were afraid to report this to the doctors, but it was no use if they did, because the doctors didn't listen, anyhow. There were no activities to stimulate the minds of the patients, so, if anything, these so-call "hospitals' actually made most of the patients - who weren't even mad to begin with - actually mad.

When Bly left, her reports launched a jury investigation, and surprise surprise! Things started to improve.

This book was riveting. It made me angry; it disgusted me. Nellie Bly was truly an amazing woman. I suggest reading more about her. ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2016 Laura marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, gutenberg, memoir-biography, anthropology

Free download available(audio version) at Project Gutenberg. ...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Terri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, biography-autobiography-memoirs, history

Journalist Nelly Bly takes an assignment to get herself sent to the Blackwell Island Insane Asylum, exposing the treatment there and resulting in reforms by the state of NY. Her experiences are candid and very sad. One of the saddest things is how easily she was committed and had she not had others on the outside to arrange her release, it is likely she would have remained there as hopelessly insane (an act which fooled everyone she met - talk about preconceptions). What a courageous woman!

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