Clever Girl — David Blixt

Tell a story to catch a story. — Nellie Bly Based on a true story—Nellie Bly sets out to trap the greatest villain of her career!  Step back in time to the mesmerizing world of 19th-century New York, where the indomitable Nellie Bly dons the guise of a cunning ingenue to unravel the web of deception spun by the enigmatic Edward Phelps—the notorious King Of The Lobby. March 1888. A blizzard has frozen all of New York, and Nellie Bly is going stir-crazy, stuck at home with her mother and her detestable brother Albert. When a political speech inspires her, she and Colonel Cockerill plot out her most daring undercover assignment since she emerged from the Blackwell's Island insane asylum: she's going to trap the most crooked man in politics, Edward R. Phelps, the self-styled King of the Albany lobby.  Catching a fox as wily as Phelps will take all her nerve, and she's learning that her meteoric rise has left her with few allies in the newspaper world. On her own, she must first trap Phelps, then confront him before a jury of his allies: the state senators of New York.   As Nellie Bly navigates the intricate corridors of power and influence, she exposes the hidden machinations behind the political curtain. Phelps, the mastermind lobbyist, pulls strings with the finesse of a puppeteer, manipulating the fate of New York State from the shadows. But Bly, armed with wit, determination, and a relentless pursuit of truth, infiltrates the world of privilege to unmask the secrets that threaten to undermine the very foundations of democracy. Based on the real-life events and her own reporting, Clever Girl shows Nellie Bly at her furious best! Uncover the hidden truths that lie beneath the polished veneer of the Gilded Age! Clever Girl will leave you breathless, questioning, and hungry for more.