Ten Days in a Mad-House: Feigning Insanity in Order to Reveal Asylum Horrors

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly went undercover in the late 1800s to shed light on the horrific conditions of Victorian mental asylums. This is the eye-opening account of her experience.

Nellie Bly feigned insanity to be admitted to a mental institution with the intent of exposing its awful conditions first-hand. Her account reveals the institution’s inhumane treatment, abuse of power, and unsanitary environment, demonstrating the unnerving ease with which a sane woman is admitted to the hospital and the struggle she faces to escape. The publication of Ten Days in a Mad-House led to an entirely new journalistic approach and launched the stunt girl reporting era.

The chapters in this compelling volume include:

• A Delicate Mission

• Pronounced Insane

• Inside the Mad-House

• Promenading with Lunatics

• Incidents of Asylum Life

• The Grand Jury Investigation

Breathing new life into this fantastic journalistic expose, Ten Days in a Mad-House has been republished by Read & Co. Books featuring an author biography by Frances E. Willard and Mary A. Livermore.