Why I Won’t Publish Nellie Bly’s Racist Novel

Why I Won’t Publish Nellie Bly’s Racist Novel

When I found the treasure trove of novels by Nellie Bly hidden in the pages of the London Story Paper, I did not start transcribing them in their chronological order. Instead I farmed out the most legible ones to friends while reserving the hardest to discern to myself, postponing the transcribing of the middle-ground ones, neither illegible or perfectly clear.

This was fortunate, because it left her seventh novel, for the end of the queue.

I had finished nine of her novels when I started transcribing and editing Dolly. Instantly, I knew I had a problem on my hands.