‘In our world, we treat the personality as the person. We don’t distinguish the person from the personality they project. Public life is founded on this.’

"‘If there’s anything people like more than having their fortunes read, it’s having their pasts abolished.’

. From the Famished Road trilogy to more recently The Last Gift of the Master Artists, Ben Okri has written some incredible novels-searching, profound and full of reflection.

Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted is a curiosity of a book- two couples with fractured marriages; Viv and Alan; Beatrice and Stephen- living comfortable and privileged lives- but not happy. Following an encounter with the mysterious Madame Sosostris , Viv sets out to create a festival for those spurned in love in a mysterious forest in the south of France - it is to feature a masked ball.

Much of the novel focuses on the conversations between the couples as they reflect of successes, failures, personal desires and frustrations and eaves drops into dialogues and thoughts of those attending the festival and their reasons to meet the elusive fortuneteller.

This is a modern adult fairytale- full of mysticism, metaphors and magic. It is an exploration of identity and personality - private and public ; societal expectations of the wealthy and privileged and how this is often a mirage ;shielding true authenticity

It is hard to classify this short novel but Mr Okri certainly knows how to make the reader ponder what constitutes reality, the true face of individuals and especially what does it mean to love and truly be loved - can we ever know?

Hard to categorise and how readers might respond

A fable drenched in the absurd, the spiritual and pure magic. This seemed like it was really fun to write. It was lots of fun to read. A Shakespearean, Midsummer Night's Dream plot is woven into T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland as Madame Sosostris, the wisest woman in Europe, promises to attend a festival for the broken hearted in a magical wood in rural France. Masks and disguises, spells and songs, the dead and the living all mingle in this riot of a tale. Absolutely glorious mythmaking.

This is a masterful book beautifully written. An allegory exploring many aspects of life: connection, love, fear of letting go and of being authentic, time, immanence and presence. At it's heart, Madame Sosostris, who exists in more ways than one, and who, it appears, speaks through reviewers as well as the characters in the book. We are best revealed by our reactions and responses. I loved it. It is exactly as long as it needs to be.

The quote at the beginning prepares the reader for what is to come:

Whoever cannot seek the unseen sees
Nothing, for the known way is an impasse

Heraclitus

We are also advised to read slowly, but I didn't. I offer no apology for that.