Ten Days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly

Ten Days in a Madhouse

by Nellie Bly

Hi everyone :) Here I am with another review. This book has been recommended by the same friend that gave me Purple Hibiscus in the previous  review :)

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The short novel I'll talk about today is Ten Days in a Madhouse by the American journalist Nellie Bly.

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The novel was really easy to read because there weren't any hard words that could have been used in the old English of those times, or maybe I'm just to used to read classic book from those days :'D

It was published as a series of articles from the personal experience of the writer that played to be insane to show the people how the patients were really treated in those facilities and what they had to go through on a daily basis. 

She investigated the brutality on women in the Women Asylum of Blackwell's Island. 

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I must say that so far it has been my favourite of this year, also thanks to the fact that I already knew her story that was drew in the graphic novel book Brazen (Culottées in French) by the French illustrator Pénélope Bagieu, which I already did my review about. (Go check it out if you'd like to know more ;) )

Some of the scenes portrayed were, of course, disturbing, because you never realise how much can people be cruel to others until it's not shown. 

The cruelty of the doctors and nurses on the patient, which most of them weren't even really insane, was just too much too handle. 

A particularly memorable scene were the baths that the patients received. The water was way too cold for them to stay healthy, and buckets of water were literally poured over their heads while the other patients were rubbing and washed the other in the tub. The bath water was almost never changed, with many patients bathing in the same dirty water. When the water was changed, rarely, the staff didn't even take care to wash off the bathtub, but just throwing the next patient right into the filthy tub. The most disturbing part was, for sure, the fact that they all shared towels and healthy patients were forced to dry themselves with the ones previously used by others with skin inflammations, boils, or open sores.

The ending part was what I liked the least, because it made me really annoyed by how the facility acted when Nellie finally got the court to investigate into it, but I'm not going to spoil you more, so if you're interested go check this little masterpiece out :)

Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu

Brazen

by Pénélope Bagieu

Spoiler alert: No spoilers this time, it's just a really enjoyable reading,
full of characters that you probably never heard of before or
knew their stories but not their names.

Hello everyone, here there is another review.

Today I'm going to talk about the graphic novel Brazen (originally called in French Les Culottées), written by the French illustrator and comic designer Pénélope Bagieu. I've came across this book because a friend of mine brought me one of the tomes in French when she went back to Paris for holidays and since then I wanted to pay the full version of it, which you can find in different languages such as English, French, Spanish, Italian and so on.

The graphic novel goes across history and the whole globe to describe to us indomitable women, who fought for their rights and to give a better life to their selves and the other generations. These are the stories of women that fought against adversity by raising their voices to be heard and change the course of history.

With her drawings, Bagieu shows the lives of these female role models, some more famous as the Witch of Oz and some less known as Agnodice, the first female gynecologist. These stories are meant to inspire the next generations of brazen and couragous women.

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I mean, what else can I say except the fact that I loved it? It's really enjoyable, because it's made as a comic, so easier to read, even though in some parts approaches some important and cruel topics. My favourite stories are the one about: Agnodice, the first gynecologist in Ancient Greece; Josephine Baker, who was mostly known as a French dancer but was also a French Resistance fighter and a matriarch; and Jesselyn Radack, a lawyer who fought for the rights of whistle-blowers.

This month's recommended books

Hey!! This month's recommended books are:

«Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu» 
  
Originally called Les Culottées and divided in two tomes, Brazen, translated in many languages, explores the theme of feminism and women who made history across the globe. A common characteristic that connects all of them is their indomitable spirit, the courage to change their lives for the best, by raising their voices, changing history, bringing peace to their nations... Brazen is a comic book shoring female role models some of them world-famous, and others little known. From the journalist Nellie Bly to the actress Margaret Hamilton (namesake of the astronaut), from Josephine Baker to the first female gynecologist Agnodice. This book is sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies.

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

«The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood»

Set in a despotic and autocratic place, called the Republic of Gilead. Here, Offred, the main character, is a Handmaid who lives in the house of the Commander just as an "object" to procreate, since the Wives cannot give birth to the children of their husbands, the Commanders. She can leave the house once a day to walk to get food and lie on her back and pray to get pregnant, once this will happen, she will just be "thrown out" like an old pair of shoes, to go to the next Commander. It's a never ending circle where Offred (the name comes because she's a property of Fred, her actual Commander) remembers her past with her husband, Luke, and their daughter, who she hasn't seen since this horrifying republic started. In some parts of the book, that was first published in 1985, we can clearly see that some of the things that happen, didn't really change for women, there is not a progress for equality, where women are blame to be sterile when they can't get children, because "it can't be the men's fault", or that they need to have a children before 35, because if not, it would be wrong or weird. Even though it was written many years ago, it still actual, especially in some countries of the world. Atwood published a sequel last year called "The Testaments". 

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

 

«Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed»

This book is an autobiography of a 22 years old woman, Cheryl, that when her mother died and her marriage failed, thought she lost everything she had. Four years after all these events she decides, since she has nothing else to lose, to go on a hike of more than a thousand miles of the PCT from Mojave Desert through California, Oregon to Washington State, without any experience and alone. This book tells her journey through pain, loss of shoes, nails and cold and hotness, but also some friendships along the way and good memories. It's an inspiring book that makes you understand that if you want to do something, even if it's the most impulsive thing you've ever done, it can make you stronger, heal you.