7.6 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publication date 1887 Originally published 1887 Page count 96 Country United States of America | 3.8/5 Goodreads Publisher Ian L. Munro Pages 96 Genre Investigative journalism | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback and paperback) Adaptations 10 Days in a Madhouse (2015) Similar Nellie Bly books, Mental disorder books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, which was published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Bly's reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity at a women's boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island.
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Reception
The book's graphic depiction of conditions at the asylum caused a sensation which brought Bly lasting fame and prompted a grand jury to launch its own investigation with Bly assisting. The jury's report resulted in an $850,000 increase in the budget of the Department of Public Charities and Corrections. The grand jury also made sure that future examinations were more thorough so that only the seriously ill went to the asylum.
Film adaptation
An independent film version of 10 Days in a Madhouse, written and directed by Timothy Hines, starring Caroline Barry, Christopher Lambert, Kelly Le Brock and Julia Chantrey, was released in 2015 from Pendragon Pictures.