Louisa Treger Interviewed by Alexandra Pringle

Writer Louisa Treger talks about her historical novel, Mad Woman, about the true story of a reporter who faked insanity to expose the wretched conditions faced by patients in an asylum and was a pioneer of investigative journalism.

Nellie Bly sets out for New York in 1887 determined to make her way in journalism. She finds life in New York tougher than expected and accepts a commission to go undercover in the asylum on Blackwell’s Island. She finds a world of horrors beyond her imagination, reawakening traumatic events of her childhood. Will she ever get out of the asylum?

Treger trained as a classical violinist before turning to studying literature and writing. She is also author of The Lodger and The Dragon Lady. Here she talks to Alexandra Pringle, former editor in chief and now executive publisher at Bloomsbury Publishing. Pringle was also a founder of Virago Press, which champions women writers and aims to bring their voice to the widest readership around the world.