Ten Days in a Mad-House

Although the story of Nellie Bly going undercover in an asylum is truth, it reads as fiction. The horrific treatment of patients is the stuff out of a nightmare: making all the women use the same towel, rotten food, staff choking patients for being noisy etc. The list of atrocious behaviour by those in a position of care is endless.It was also shocking to read how quickly sane women were deemed insane for quite different illnesses.Taking a look inside an asylum in 1887 is eye opening. Nellie was incredibly brave to put herself through that ordeal for ten days. It makes you think about the poor souls left behind in similar institutes.

I think for a woman to go under cover like this in her lifetime is truly commendable. To hear of the cruelty that she herself and those around her sustained is truly horrifying. I feel that her actions benefited society greatly then and still so today.I found out about Nellie Bly in psychology by watching an experiment called "being sane in insane places" and you can see it. You can see how being sane can lead to insanity in these asylums. There were people there who were only admitted because they were foreign and couldn't understand what the people were saying, there was no translator provided. It's sick. It's disgusting. I'm glad that people have done something about it.A brilliant book an I highly recommend that you read it.

What a brave American teenager in Victorian times to endure the rigours of a cruel insane asylum typical of the day. She survived it only because she knew there was light at the end of the tunnel with someone procuring her release. It is amazing how easily and quickly she was deemed insane simply by pretending to be a poor girl who had lost her memory, was frightened of other people and kept asking for her luggage. No writhing nor wailing nor talking in strange tongues. I must however look up what the adjectives "span" and "spaner" mean in US of the time. Obviously related, one meaning more "span" than the other and the words are used frequently. I think they mean lean and leaner or small and smaller. Not making much headway but I will keep looking. Anyhoo, great book, easily read and although no surprises of asylums of the era, a shocker just the same. Hooray for Nellie Bly.

This book isx a real disappointment. I thought I would be getting a normal sized paperback book not a book with so few pages. I feel these small think booklets should be made clear they are just booklets not a real paperback, such a con. This book is the size of a holiday . I am disgusted that these booklets are classed as a paperback when they are clearley not.

So sad that it took the courage of Nellie alone to incarcerate herself in this island of evil just to be able to report back on the grave ill treatment of the residents. She was however successful in doing this and without doubt saved the lives of many women.

For me this was not long enough.I wanted to know more of what became of the staff as well as the inmates.To say I really enjoyed this book seems the wrong words. BUT I did !I would recommend it to anyone who is not too shocked.

This was a sad account told by Nellie who was brave enough to get herself admitted into this mad house so that she could tell the world about what actually happened behind closed doors. I admired her. The position she put herself in was a brave one indeed in the hope of helping her fellow human beings . I am glad she managed to free herself and tell what actually went on.

This was very enjoyable. Although it told a story of horrible mistreatment of women in a lunatic asylum, the tone was light and amusing. Nellie Bly showed a empathy for her fellow inmates and exposed this asylum, it's inhumane treatment of its patients and erroneous methods for diagnosing insanity.