Join Jonathan Ball Publishers on Monday evening at Stellenbosch Books for an evening with Louisa Treger!

Treger will be discussing her latest book Madwoman with bestselling South African author Eva Mazza.

Based on a true story, Madwoman is a spellbinding historical novel about the world’s first female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly.

Event details

Date: Monday 20 March 2023
Time: 17:00
Venue: Stellenbosch Books, 14 Andringa Street, Stellenbosch Central
RSVP: Stellenboschbooks@gmail.com

About the book

In 1887 young Nellie Bly sets out for New York and a career in journalism, determined to make her way as a serious reporter, whatever that may take.

But life in the city is tougher than she imagined. Down to her last dime and desperate to prove her worth, she comes up with a dangerous plan: to fake insanity and have herself committed to the asylum that looms on Blackwell’s Island. There, she will work undercover to document – and expose – the wretched conditions faced by the patients.

But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself in a place of horrors, governed by a harshness and cruelty she could never have imagined. Cold, isolated and starving, her days of terror reawaken the traumatic events of her childhood. She entered the asylum of her own free will – but will she ever get out?

An extraordinary portrait of a woman way ahead of her time, Madwoman is the story of a quest for the truth that changed the world.

‘Madwoman is one of the best, a magnificent portrayal of Nelly Bly in all her journalistic integrity and daring.’ – New York Journal of Books

Treger, a classical violinist, studied at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and worked as a freelance orchestral player and teacher. She subsequently turned to literature, earning a PhD in English at University College London, where she focused on early-twentieth-century women’s writing and was awarded the West Scholarship and the Rosa Morison Scholarship ‘for distinguished work in the study of English Language and Literature’. She is the author of the novels The Lodger and The Dragon Lady. She lives in London with her husband, children, and dog.

 

Categories Fiction International South Africa

Tags Book events Book launches Eva Mazza Jonathan Ball Publishers Louisa Treger Madwoman Stellenbosch