Pretty Merribelle

Book excerpt: An astonishing discovery! Available for the first time in 125 years, the Lost Novels Of Nellie Bly! Pioneering undercover journalist Nellie Bly is rightly famous for exposing society's ills. From brutal insane asylums to corrupt politicians, she exposed all manner of frauds and charlatans. She was also a skilled interviewer and reporter. What no one has known was that she was also a novelist. This is because, of the twelve novels Bly wrote between 1889 and 1895, eleven of have been lost. Until now. Newly discovered by author David Blixt (What Girls Are Good For, The Master Of Verona), Nellie Bly's lost works of fiction are now available for the first time! Complete with the original artwork! These are The Lost Novels of Nellie Bly! Merribelle—or Rosalind? Merribelle Harleigh is the most charming and beautiful worker in the paper-box factory. When a fire breaks out, the envious Lotta Loring contrives that Merribelle should be left inside the burning factory to die. But her plot is foiled by the handsome Cedric Sutherland, heir to a massive fortune. Only when she awakens, Merribelle has no memory of who she is! Seizing his moment, Cedric’s cousin Frank Ashley mesmerizes the befuddled girl, now called Rosalind, and uses her as a pawn in a plot to steal away Cedric’s fortune. No sooner are Cedric and Rosalind married but she seems to die. At the graveyard, her body disappears, rescued by Cedric’s neighbor, Granville Norcross. When she awakens, Meribelle is her old self, and falls wildly in love with Granville, not knowing she is already wed to Cedric! None of this suits Frank Ashley or Lotta Loring, both determined to gain Cedric’s fortunes. One requires the return of Rosalind, the other conspires at the death of . . .Pretty Merribelle! Extra feature: includes her New York World articles Bly used for inspiration!