The Salpetriere Asylum had different meanings to its residents and workers. Some viewed it as a version of hell that they cannot bare to stay for another minute, some saw it as a sanctuary from the cruel outside world, and some saw it as a place to redeem yourself. The Mad Women's Ball reflected how women were suppressed and shunned away from society if they show any signs of "abnormality" back in the Victorian era in general. But there were always a few who refused to give in to patriarchy and stand up for what's right. Overall it was a genuine portray how women were treated in the Victorian era. The ending fell a bit short for me; I was expecting more from the supernatural aspect. But overall it was an enjoyable read.

As a biology graduate, I have learned many concepts and diseases that were named after famous people. One of them was the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, one of the many disorders named after the leading scientists of their day. Now imagine my surprise to learn that Jean-Martin Charcot was a leading scientist at the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière during the 19th century, where "mad women" were placed in and paraded during lectures to study their "hysteric fits". It does put things in a whole different perspective.

The story revolves mostly around two women, Geneviève and Eugénie. The former is a strict matron who has worked at the Salpêtrière for the past 20 years and sincerely believes that science and what the doctors are doing can help the patients. The latter is a free spirit and can talk to the dead, which is why her own family sends her to the Salpêtrière institution. As the story unfolds, we meet different women, who have been shunned by society, given up to the hospital by their own relatives, labelled as "mad" and paraded in front of scientists and the public. The extent, to which these women were humiliated and degraded is stunning, but I also have to admit - not surprising.

The story and the prose was beautiful as well as immersive, I applaud Victoria Mas for her stunning debut and well-deserved laurels as well as the translator, Frank Wynne. I am looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation.
Recommended to fans of Atwood's "A Handmaid's Tale", Picoult's "Keeping Faith", the movie "Shawshank Redemption" in particular, but more generally those who love historical fiction.

Content Warning: Abuse, Sexual Violence and Assault, Self-Harm, Mental Illness, Death,

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS for the eARC.
Side note to the publisher: Is there any way to put the foot notes at the bottom of a e-book page instead of the very end? It's probably just my personal preference.

Beautifully written heart wrenching.A story characters that drew me right in.A book I will be recommending, looking forward to the film #netgalley#abramsbooks

I was glad to learn that this book is being made into a movie. What a great novel!

This book is a historical fiction but the venue, a hospital in Paris, does exist, and several people appearing in the story were notable doctors of the time when the novel happens.
The book tells the story of a nurse and a patient who meet in the Salpetriere asylum, a "prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion", a place that "took in those that Paris did not know how to cope with: invalids and women". It perfectly describes the gloomy situation of women in 1885, who could decide on which dress to wear but in all other matters were put at the mercy of their father, husband and other male members of their family.

Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas is Heartrending, yet beautiful writing. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher

Thank you Netgalley and ABRAMS for the eARC.
This was a read that blew me away: sad, sometimes uplifting, horrifying and unbelievable. There were times I got angry at the way women were then treated; the way their families had them locked away for the smallest difference they deemed to be unacceptable. Got forbid it was that time of the month or the woman was menopausal or epileptic.
The two main protagonists were the head nurse, and a young, independent thinking woman sent to the hospital by her father. The main event, the annual madwomen's ball, had the aristocrats flocking to see the 'mad women', like they went to a zoo...just incredibly inhumane. The ending was surprisingly sweet, but also left me sad; and happy to live in 2021, even though we can still do a lot better. Highly recommended!

Within moments of beginning to read this book I was taken from the now into the clinical and gothic world of 19th century Paris and the women of the Salpetriere Asylum. It is very easy to picture the scene, young women poked and prodded on stage under the guise of “education” and “better understanding” of their hysterias. Looking into that world I felt uncomfortable, I wanted to protect the ladies from such exploitation.

But then Mas takes us from the medical theatre and on to the ward. We begin to learn more about the women, the trauma many of them experienced in the outside world. The comfort they now find in the safety of the hospital under the ever watchful eye and care of nurse Genevieve and her team. For many release and the outside world are not things they wish for.

The Mad Women’s Ball is not about the medical practices of the time, it is not a commentary on the 19th century practice of circus freak shows and carnivals – or in this case a ball. This story is about freedom. It is about the power of the mind to find contentment is the strangest of places.

The early part of the books sets our scene. The history of the asylum, Geneviève’s childhood struggle with faith. Her progression from assisting her father, a small town doctor, to senior nurse at the world renown Salpêtrière Asylum. The first major turning point in the book comes when Eugenie is committed to the asylum by her father. Her presence changes things for nurse Genevieve forever. Her ability to see spirits and communicate messages from them to the living is crucial to the storyline and yet we only see a glimpse of it in action. I expected the book to focus on Eugénie more, but as I read on I realised this book is not Eugenie’s story. It is not even the story of the other mad women of the Salpêtrière. This book is Geneviève’s story. It is about the tension for some between faith and science. How do we experience life? How do determine what is right and wrong, what is real and what is not when we are at conflict within ourselves. Can you believe in the methods and evidence of science whilst still having faith?

Each character in this book is on a quest for freedom. The freedom from controlling fathers and husbands, the freedom from past traumas. They simply wish to be who they are and take comfort and happiness from that. Even if that means writing a letter each day.

Thank you NetGalley, ABRAMS, and The Overlook Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Truth be told, whether free or incarcerated, women were not safe anywhere. Since the dawn of time, they had been the victims of decisions that were taken without their consent."

Imagine Girl, Interrupted, but it's historical fiction set in Paris.
The name of the book says it all! There is indeed a ball for the women who now spend their life at the Salpêtrière institute in 19th century Paris. This is presented as an occasion for the patients to step out of the confines of the mental institution and mingle with the outside world - the so-called " normal " society. It is just a sophisticated way of saying that these mad-women would be on display for the entertainment of the Parisian society, to quench man's curiosity as to how a "mentally unstable" woman looks and behaves.

"The women of Salpêtrière were no longer pariahs whose existence had to remain hidden, but entertainment, thrust into the limelight without a flicker of regret."

What defined madness in 1885?
- Having an opinion on top of being a woman would have definitely got you bonus points
- Both promiscuity and questioning your husband's adultery are double no nos.
- Epilepsy, Hysteria and Melancholia : The latter generally a result of systematic abuse by men, both familiar and unfamiliar.

"The Salpêtrière is a dumping ground for women who disturb the peace. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion."

You got raped?
So what?
You get traumatized after the incident and suffer from back bending seizures- welcome to the mental institute. Let Dr. Charcot put you on display in front of 400 men while he experiments on you in the name of advancement of medical science.

"Although madness in men is not the same as that in women: men use it against others; women turn it in on themselves."

The story follows three main characters. Genevieve, the matron who is in charge of taking care of the patients and preparing them for whatever is needed of them by Dr. Charcot and his associates. Next we have young Louise, proud of having had more than two hundred attacks of hysteria in the past three years; she pines for glory and recognition, to please Dr. Charcot and become the next Augustine (Louise Augustine Gleizes born 21 August 1861, known as Augustine or A, was a very famous woman in the late 19th century, due to neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot publicly exhibiting her symptoms as a hysteria patient while she was held at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. )
Finally we have the new patient Eugenie, whose father personally admitted her to the institute, without her consent of course, because she saw spirits and could speak to them, and the patriarch could have none of that being connected to his good family name.

"This is a world in which upholding the family name is more important than protecting one's daughters."

The setting is superb and so is the history behind it.
We see several actual historical figures such as Dr. Charcot, the famous French neurologist; Joseph Babinski, a French-polish professor of neurology; Albert Londe, the photographer; Allan Kardec, leader of the French Spiritualist movement, and Leymarie, his successor.
I would definitely recommend this to both lovers and non-lovers of historical fiction.

I have posted the review on Goodreads, Instagram, and my blog. The links are:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsWBKPLzcI/?igshid=13tgf0damazdl
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55367512-the-mad-women-s-ball
My blog: https://averyoriginalusername.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/the-mad-womans-ball-by-victoria-mas-translated-by-frank-wynn/

Nope. Nope. Nope. I will not read books with sexual violence. DNR at 18%. I understand you may not want to include that a book contains interpersonal violence in the main public description but for NetGalley, when readers are picking out books without the benefit of a lot of other reviews to go on, some trigger warnings out to be included. There are reviews on Goodreads but they are mostly in French.

This was a very quick read about France’s Salpêtrière hospital in the early days of neurology and psychology. This was also the time when any woman who was “unruly” could be committed to these hospitals by her family members, usually male. The story follows the matron of the ward and her experiences and a newcomer to the ward who claims she can communicate with spirits. What follows is really a discussion on feminism, how women were seen as objects and had no rights, including over their bodies and minds.

This book was an enjoyable, interesting
read but it also broke my heart. It is powerful and eye opening. This is one of those books that will stay with me. It broke my heart for all the women who were unfairly treated during this time and institutionalized. It is a short, quick book and I feel like it could have been even better if it was longer and more in depth on some of the characters pasts and perhaps more on Eugenies new life after her escape. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction.

Thank you Net Galley and Abrams,
The Overlook Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review for The Mad Women’s Ball
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

19th century France was not a time for women to try to assert their independence or to appear “uncooperative” in any way. Doing so could easily end with said woman being locked away in a psychiatric hospital. Dr Charcot has the world believing he can “cure” the women at Salpetriere Asylum by hypnotizing them out of their “madness”. But many of these women are perfectly normal, just unwanted, inconvenient or unconventional. Every year the inmates at the asylum are dressed up for the Lenten, or Madwoman’s Ball. The polite members of Parisian society gather to gawk at the women, and the women see this night as a chance to escape their imprisonment, even if for only one night. This year, senior nurse, Genevieve, formerly Dr. Charcot’s biggest fan now sees him for the charlatan he is. Her friendship with Eugenie a young patient who claims to be able to see spirits, becomes a catalyst. Eugenie, desperate to escape from the asylum sees her chance in Paris’s fascination with The Book of Spirits and uses her “ability” to free both herself and Genevieve. An incredible tale of survival and escape based on real events