Introducing Our New Nellie Bly Biography!
I am so excited to share our newest release: Nellie Bly: America’s Best Reporter by Iris Noble — newly edited by me (Ambre) and beautifully illustrated by the incredibly gifted Spanish artist Nerea Fernández Álvarez, who loves Nellie every bit as much as I do. As with all our editions, we’ve used a dyslexia-friendly font.
Sheila asked a great question on Facebook: Who was Nellie Bly?
Here’s the quick version answer, plus why her life still matters today:
Nellie Bly was an investigative reporter in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and she was absolutely fearless. She traveled around the world in under 80 days—alone, as a woman—in response to Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. She went undercover in an insane asylum for ten days, and her exposé finally pushed the government to meaningfully regulate those institutions. She uncovered crooked lobbyists in New York and even testified against them. And she had this wonderfully playful streak too—like learning to be a ballerina just so she could write about it, and deciding the tights and short skirts weren’t nearly as scandalous as people claimed.
I read Iris Noble’s book as a teenager and immediately fell in love with Nellie. When I prepared this edition, I wanted readers to see more of the real woman behind the storytelling. So I added full-length Nellie Bly articles at the end of each chapter — each one chosen to pair with the themes or events you’ve just read. The original book is a fictionalized biography, which means it tells a true life story while gently shaping the narrative so it reads smoothly — small timeline adjustments, added dialogue, and the occasional invented moment that reflects something Nellie truly did or experienced, without changing the real arc of her life. In editing this edition, there were a couple places where I adjusted the text back toward historical fact, and I also corrected quite a few typos from the original publication. And in just one or two spots, I updated outdated language referring to people from other cultures (for example, changing “a Japanese” to “a Japanese reporter”).
Why does Nellie matter today?
Honestly, because her stories read like Ecclesiastes—there really is nothing new under the sun. The issues she tackled in her reporting… well, we’re still wrestling with so many of them now. Reading her work feels both timely and timeless. I believe this is a book worth owning if only to read through Nellie’s interview with Susan B. Anthony together with your teens—or just on your own. I can’t get it out of my head.
As for age recommendations: in our home, we’re doing 15+ for independent readers. The book touches—gently—on a few heavy topics, including human trafficking in the article “Nellie Bly Buys a Baby” (yes, she truly did), a scene where a man tries to drug her drink with the clear implication that young unaccompanied women were being trafficked through the park, and of course the trauma of her ten days in the asylum. Iris writes boldly but never gratuitously, and the style reflects the gripping, emotional tone of journalism from that era. You won’t be able to put this one down.
If you’re studying the Gilded Age, Progressive Era, early labor issues, women’s rights, or the lead-up to World War I, this book is a perfect fit for your shelves.
And finally:
Today is the last day of the Living Book Press & Renewed Books sale. It’s a wonderful time to pick up all four of our available titles in time for Christmas.
If you would like to read some reviews (or leave one of your own!) please do so on our Amazon listing. I cannot stress how helpful these reviews are so indie authors and publishers.
