A visual biography of the groundbreaking investigative journalist
Born in 1864, Nellie Bly was a woman who did not allow herself to be
defined by the time she lived in, she rewrote the narrative and made her
own way.
Luciana Cimino's meticulously researched graphic-novel biography tells
Bly's story through Miriam, a fictionalized female student at the
Columbia School of Journalism in 1921. While interviewing the famous
journalist, Miriam learns not only about Bly's more sensational
adventures, but also about her focus on self-reliance from an early age,
the scathing letter to the editor that jump-started her career as a
newspaper columnist, and her dedication to the empowerment of women. In
fact, in 1884, Bly was one of the few journalists who interviewed Belva
Ann Lockwood, who was the first woman candidate for a presidential
election--a contest that was ultimately won by Grover Cleveland--and Bly
predicted correctly that women would not get the vote until 1920.
Of course Bly's most well-known exploits are also covered--how she
pretended to be mad in order to get institutionalized so she could carry
out an undercover investigation in an insane asylum, and Bly's greatest
feat of all, her journey around the world in 72 days--alone--which was
unthinkable for a woman in the late 19th century. As Miriam learns more
of Bly's story, she realizes that the most important stories are
necessarily the ones with the most dramatic headlines, but the ones
that, in Nellie's words, "come from a deep feeling."
This beautifully executed graphic novel paints a portrait of a woman who
defied societal expectations--not only with her investigative
journalism, but with her keen mind for industry, and her original
inventions.
