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The Lost Novels of Nellie Bly #1
The Mystery of Central Park: A Novel
Richard Treadwell is living off a comfortable inheritance, dating heiress Penelope Howard and having his marriage proposal repeatedly rejected, when a dead body in Central Park spurs him to action. Who is the beautiful young woman on the park bench? How did she die? Solve the mystery, says Penelope, and the two can finally marry.
This edition of The Mystery of Central Park is accompanied by 20 illustrations from the original serialization in The New York Evening World (July, 1889).
This edition of The Mystery of Central Park is accompanied by 20 illustrations from the original serialization in The New York Evening World (July, 1889).
111 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 2014
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About the author
Nellie Bly
84 books273 followersNellie Bly (1864-1922) was the pen name of pioneer female journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochran. She remains notable for two feats: a record-breaking trip around the world, in emulation of Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg (Bly completed the trip in seventy-two days) and an exposé, in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within. In addition to her writing, she was also an industrialist and charity worker. Bly died of pneumonia at St. Mark's Hospital in New York City in 1922 aged 57.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 31, 2017
This is Nellie Bly's only work of fiction, and there's no beating around the bush: it's not good.
First, we need to put ourselves in the mindset of the people of 1889. If we don't, we might become inclined to be offended at the way men treat women in the story. We might also want to slap a certain main female character for failing to have any good sense.
Even setting aside conventional gender roles and dated stereotypes, the novella doesn't age well compared to its contemporaries. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing is still enjoyable in spite of it's time period because the main characters are well-rounded and multi-dimensional. They're also not stupid. Watson may not be as powerful an observer as Holmes, but he isn't completely oblivious to the world around him. Bly's protagonist Dick (and what an apt name) seems to have no brains, no common sense, and no experience in dealing with other people. I won't bother with Penelope because frankly I can't see why anyone ever would.
Ok, let's move on to plot because the characters annoy me. Like much early mystery writing, there's a heavy reliance on coincidence and the ability to recognize someone you've only seen once or twice. The "twists" are pretty predictable by today's standards, but perhaps earlier in the genre's history, they were more original. I will give her props for making the crime very plausible; it's a very believable sequence of events (at least as far as the crime goes, not so much the detecting). Well, up until he leaves the body in the park; he should have dumped her in the river (not a spoiler, the body is found in the second chapter). Bly's reporting career probably gave her good material as far as that goes, where I think some of her contemporaries got a little whimsical with their crimes.
This just isn't a good mystery novella. She had a good premise, but fiction was not her forte.
First, we need to put ourselves in the mindset of the people of 1889. If we don't, we might become inclined to be offended at the way men treat women in the story. We might also want to slap a certain main female character for failing to have any good sense.
Even setting aside conventional gender roles and dated stereotypes, the novella doesn't age well compared to its contemporaries. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing is still enjoyable in spite of it's time period because the main characters are well-rounded and multi-dimensional. They're also not stupid. Watson may not be as powerful an observer as Holmes, but he isn't completely oblivious to the world around him. Bly's protagonist Dick (and what an apt name) seems to have no brains, no common sense, and no experience in dealing with other people. I won't bother with Penelope because frankly I can't see why anyone ever would.
Ok, let's move on to plot because the characters annoy me. Like much early mystery writing, there's a heavy reliance on coincidence and the ability to recognize someone you've only seen once or twice. The "twists" are pretty predictable by today's standards, but perhaps earlier in the genre's history, they were more original. I will give her props for making the crime very plausible; it's a very believable sequence of events (at least as far as the crime goes, not so much the detecting). Well, up until he leaves the body in the park; he should have dumped her in the river (not a spoiler, the body is found in the second chapter). Bly's reporting career probably gave her good material as far as that goes, where I think some of her contemporaries got a little whimsical with their crimes.
This just isn't a good mystery novella. She had a good premise, but fiction was not her forte.
April 25, 2021
Even though the writing seems amateurish, this was a really good story. This was Nellie Bly's first attempt at writing fiction, and it shows. That being said, the story was.good and kept me engaged. I appreciate the introduction explaining how these novels were rediscovered. Blixt also included the articles Nellie published for the paper that inspired the.story.
April 20, 2016
This book is dated as hell.
September 27, 2023
Nellie Bly. A complex woman who wrote about the time she lived in.
February 6, 2022
After reading Mr. Blixt's wonderful historical fiction book, "What Girls are Good For", about Ms. Bly, herself, I thought I'd give Ms. Bly's own writing a turn. While the plotting of the mystery isn't on the level of Agatha Christie or A.C. Doyle, I found the writing itself surprisingly delightful. And I find it a particular joy to get little glimpses of the period through the eyes of someone who actually lived it. Kudos to Mr. Blixt for unearthing these little treasures.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews