At 20, Elizabeth Cochrane dreamed of being a writer, but it seemed impossible. Her father had died when she was six, and her stepfather had been an abusive alcoholic. She had dropped out of high school because her family could not afford the tuition. Her mother was running a boarding house when Elizabeth read a column in The Pittsburgh Dispatch that said women should stay home and raise children. Furious, Cochrane wrote back, describing her life and the lives of many women. That letter earned her a job and a new name: Nellie Bly. As her alter ego, she gave a voice to women who worked in factories and were being treated in asylums. And she would travel around the world faster than anyone ever had. By the time she was 25, Nellie Bly was the most famous reporter in the world. This new title describes the life and accomplishments of this firebrand woman.