Feigned Madness A

<p><em>The insane asylum on Blackwell's Island is a human rat trap. It is easy to get in but once there it is impossible to get out. </em>-<em>Nellie Bly</em></p><p>Elizabeth Cochrane has a secret. </p><p>She isn't the madwoman with amnesia the doctors and inmates at Blackwell's Asylum think she is.</p><p>In truth she's working undercover for the <em>New York World</em>. When the managing editor refuses to hire her because she's a woman Elizabeth strikes a deal: in exchange for a job she'll impersonate a lunatic to expose a local asylum's abuses.</p><p>When she arrives at the asylum Elizabeth realizes she must make a decision-is she there merely to bear witness or to intervene on behalf of the abused inmates? Can she interfere without blowing her cover? As the superintendent of the asylum grows increasingly suspicious Elizabeth knows her scheme-and her dream of becoming a journalist in New York-is in jeopardy.</p><p><em>A Feigned Madness</em> is a meticulously researched fictionalized account of the woman who would come to be known as daredevil reporter Nellie Bly. At a time of cutthroat journalism when newspapers battled for readers at any cost Bly emerged as one of the first to break through the gender barrier-a woman who would through her daring exploits forge a trail for women fighting for their place in the world.</p>