Ten Days in a Mad-House" is a graphic novel adaptation of Nellie Bly's 1887 investigation. It vividly portrays her undercover stay at Blackwell's Island asylum, revealing the harsh treatment of women in mental institutions during that era.

The art style perfectly complements the narrative's tone—dark and gritty. The graphic format breathes new life into Bly’s journalism, making her story accessible to a broader audience while maintaining the gravity of her discoveries.

Ten Days in a Mad House is a strong adaptation that effectively showcases Bly’s bravery and tenacity in an era when women’s voices were often silenced. It’s an engaging and thought-provoking read, shedding light on an essential piece of history while offering a visual feast for graphic novel enthusiasts.

I recommend it to readers interested in historical journalism, women’s rights, or psychological horror.

Beautifully illustrated, unfortunately the original text didn't give much to work with in terms of adapting this into a graphic novel, so though I liked what was there, I ultimately was left asking, "Is that it?"

A really interesting graphic novel that details the story of Nelly Blye and her time undercover in an infamous asylum. The images really help bring the story to life and highlight how important this story is to history.

Seeing as this is one of the most famous stories in American history, I am certain there have been numerous adaptations. However, this one misses the mark. It feels like it is attempting to be cinematic instead of true to the work and that isn't interesting. And somehow, it doesn't feel particularly positive towards Nellie Bly or women in general, which it should be, considering it is one of the most important works in feminist literature. I think this adaptation just missed the mark on all fronts.

A fascinating bit of history in graphic novel form. I

f it is difficult to get the original book into your store, this is a great alternative!

This one threw me. I had never heard of the original text by Nellie Bly, published back in the 1880s - so this adaptation is already a win for me by breathing new life into an old story. At times the modern vernacular pulled me out of the setting, but overall the worldbuilding (or world revisiting, rather) was well done. I really enjoyed the cover art, but it is quite disjointed from the art inside the novel (which I didn't love).

I found this book to be a really enlightening adaptation of this story. Students and readers that otherwise would not want to approach this story will be drawn in, enthralled and want to learn more after reading this excellent graphic adaption. Recommended for teens and up.

This is definitely a book to have has a graphic novel because the images add so much more to the descriptions and shows everything that Nellie Bly saw and endured. Ten Days in a Mad-House is a "I can only imagine" type of book, by which I mean with as much detail that might have been put into it, it's still something that we can only imagine so the illustrations in this edition make it something else. They put you in the story and let you get caught up in it, in a new way.

Such a great story if Nellie Bly. I haven’t read the original, but I am definitely interested in reading it now after finishing the graphic novel version. The artistry was beautiful and easy to follow along with the story.

2022 has been a great year for fans of Nellie Bly. First we had Maya Rodale's fantastic novel about her time at Blackwell's; now, this superb graphic novel brings the words of Nellie herself to life. Exquisitely detailed linework and efficient writing elevate this adaptation of Ten Days in a Mad-House, Nellie's own account of her time disguised as an insane woman in order to expose the abuses running rampant at Blackwell's. Brad Ricca captures Nellie's indefatigable spirit and relentless will by allowing her to speak for herself. A lovely tribute to a remarkable woman.

Single women in the 1870’s worked menial jobs and poorly paid. Nellie Bly wanted a job as a newspaper reporter reporting on activities that women reporters did not even consider covering. The few women reporters were reporting fashion and society activity. Nellie focused her early work for the “ Pittsburgh Dispatch “on the working women, a series investigative articles on women. Nellie went to several newspapers in New York. All the answers were no to her. Nellie was able to get into “The New York’s World” newspaper editor’s office and got hired to do an assignment that would change her life. She managed to convinced the authorities that she was mentally insane so she could go undercover to investigate conditions in the insane asylum on Blackwell Island. She spent ten days in the insane asylum. What did she discover? How did she leave the insane asylum?

Reading this story as a graphic novel added to the story. The illustrations are well drawn — so well drawn that I felt I was seeing the women in the insane asylum not just the patients but also the nurses. I liked how the plot moved quickly and smoothly. The nurses in the book were terrifying. The doctors didn’t help their patients. It’s a fantastic story to read.

It's been a while since I read a graphic novel that was absolutely artistically stunning and intellectually stimulating. The artistic details of each frame add a depth to the essential questions that this work raises: will society's historically terrible treatment of mental illness mark our future? The featured reviews of this work keep using the word "timely", which I feel limits its true scope and resonance.

This was amazing. I loved reading it even through there were hard parts to see illustrated. Overall, this was something that I had heard about but never read. I learned a lot and I'm grateful that things like this are being turned into graphic novels. I think that it makes them more accessible to more people.

This book was provided for free to me in ebook by NetGalley.

I love a pleasingly drawn and succinct graphic nonfiction book. This book accomplishes both. The black and white art gives it a late 1800's newspaper feel.

While I knew a bit about Nellie Bly and had heard of her undercover reporting, I had not read her writing. I was amazed by her tenacity and courage. The situation she entered was horrifying. It's an important story to know and retell.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC ebook!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4637273002?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

My introduction to Nellie Bly was through American Horror Story. The graphic novel's illustrations were spot on with some of the AHS images.

I thoroughly enjoyed this version of her story. The fieriness of Nellie was portrayed perfectly in the pages.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books and Gallery 13 for giving me the opportunity to read this.

This book is just what I wanted it to be. Many Nellie Bly books are missing something tangible. They lean into the horror instead of the real life terror. This does the latter. The images are perfect. This is the perfect adaptation. This is the way for younger readers to learn about Nellie while also learning about the way the mentally I’ll were treated, just as Nellie intended.

Ten Days in a Mad-House is a harrowing and effective graphic novel adaptation of Nellie Bly's investigation and exposure of the inhumane and horrifying treatment of mental health patients in the late 19th century in America. Due out 19th April 2022 from Simon & Schuster on their Gallery 13 imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback/graphic novel and ebook formats.

The text is spare and linear and the story is told quite plainly which keeps the horror of the fates of thousands of patients, many of whom were absolutely not mentally ill, in sharp and unflinching focus throughout. I was left with a sense of profound sadness and anger as well as impressed with the bravery and dedication of Ms. Bly's original exposé.

The adaptation is written by Dr. Brad Ricca who does a masterful job turning the difficult source material into a cohesive whole. He allows us to view much of the distressing reality without peeling back the façade entirely and forcing readers to face the very worst of the depredations which undoubtedly occurred. For readers who are very sensitive, there are references to suicide, murder, sexual assault, and horrifying failure of care (including implied infanticide).

The art, by Courtney Sieh, is crisp and direct and suits the story very well. Stylistically it's mostly in panels with occasional full page frames. The text is spare and the story is told through the pen and ink line drawings. Although the subject matter is distressing, the art isn't graphic at all.

It's an important story and the original reporting and exposé by Nellie Bly eventually resulted in sweeping changes in the care and oversight of vulnerable patients in a lot of ways. It was bravely done and I found the graphic novel enlightening.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I had heard of Nellie Bly before, but I enjoyed reading this book and learning about what her experiences were like in the insane aslyum. The illustrations helped tell the story and did such a good job. It still makes me want to learn more information about her.

A graphic novel adaptation of Nellie Bly's most famous work that serves as a useful introduction. If one finds the task of reading older reports daunting this would be an engaging work. I could see this story as particularly useful in a classroom setting. The art seems to borrow from the style of newspaper drawings from the time of Nellie's reporting. The use of vertical and horizontal lines reinforces the feeling of incarceration that the author experienced. The expressiveness of the eyes is a particular standout in showing each character's state of mind.

The artwork is beautiful and of course the story was very engaging. I’d been aware of the story but had never read it.
This would be a fantastic tool to use in history lessons of that time frame.