A look at spiritualism and how easy it was to put women in asylums wh
en they didn't fit into the norm of society. Epilepsy, depression, adverse ideas are just examples of this. This is a story of those women and how one plans her escape. A short yet sometimes disturbing read.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Included in the September instalment of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month's top fiction for Zed, Zoomer magazine’s reading and books section.
(Full review feature at link.)

I was very excited about this one, but unfortunately that excitement didn't continue past the first handful of pages... The treatment of women throughout history has definitely been less than stellar, and the use of asylums for the removal of "hysterics" and women that Society could not control is a prime example of this. Yet despite this fascinating topic, the book fell flat for me almost from the very beginning.

I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Most of the narrative was storytelling AT the reader rather than storytelling TO the reader, and it made it difficult to connect emotionally despite the subject matter. I also found the addition of the "I see dead people" supernatural element to be a little bit superfluous and it was distracting rather than enhancing to the overall story. The result was a stilted read that I struggled to stay engaged in. This one was not a good fit for me...

Through three different female characters, French writer Mas (through translator Frank Wynne) explores the lives of women in 19th century France, particularly women confined to a famous asylum. At the time, women who were sexually assaulted or too emotional or seemingly "off," were deemed "hysterical" and locked away. While in the asylum, some of the women were also experimented on by doctors. And, once a year, the women would dress up in gowns and jewels for a ball where the rich of French society could come to dance and interact with them.

Mas' subject is ripe for a thrilling book. The horrific treatment these women experienced is still infuriating, even through the pages of a fictional book. A complexity she touched on that brought some unexpected depth to the thrill/horror was how some women felt more at home at the asylum than they did in the real world. Even though this covered several riveting subjects, I felt like the prose was repetitive at times and not subtle. I love a good "message" book, but when the message is relayed rather explicitly in a didactic tone, the allure of the reader's connection to the work suffers. Still, I enjoyed delving into this compelling story and look forward to more books from Mas. I'm also going to check out the new Amazon movie of this book that was just released.

Much thanks to @netgalley for a free eBook in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first read of September, and it was exactly what I was in the mood for! The Mad Women's Ball is a compelling historical fiction novel that really captures both the horrors and, in a twisted way, the beauty of the human experience for women in a 19th century asylum. The writing is fantastic, with a wonderful depth of emotion and a tight, often tense plot. I did more or less predict the end result of the novel, which would normally bug me, but in this case I found the characters and their journeys so engrossing that I really didn't mind knowing the final outcome. Definitely one to add to the TBR if you're looking for some new historical fiction with a unique setting! It gets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me.

A quick read about the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris in 1885. A hospital for ‘hysterical’ women and other mental illnesses, and every year the Lenten Ball is held there, where all the well-to-do etc can come and gawk at the madwomen. Professor Charcot famously holds lectures where he demonstrates hypnotism on patients and induces fits, in front of hundreds of male students. The treatment of problematic women and mentally ill patients in the past is still amazing to read about it, and I found this an interesting and well written story. The main characters are Genevieve, the matron who has worked there for twenty years and Eugenie, an upper class young woman who has been committed by her father. There are other important characters, patients, Louise and Therese and Eugenie’s brother, Theophile. An impressive debut novel and a beautiful cover as well.

This English translation of the French award-winning bestseller is a high quality read. It renders a realistic depiction of the morals and scientific knowledge of the time where women were easily dismissed as crazy and even abused when they dared stray from the rigid expectations. The stories about Eugénie and Geneviève, and all the other women are poignant. It’s well written and a hard-to-put-down book. Now that the movie has been released on Prime, I’ll go see how they adapted this riveting text!

Throughout history, men have used many ways to remove difficult or embarrassing wives and daughters. Women who, for one reason or another have proven troublesome (for husbands, fathers, or brothers) have often found themselves relegated to asylums. Whether because of mental illness, refusal to stay in their place, adultery (of either partner), or financial incentives--asylums have provided ways to remove inconvenient women.
In 1885 in Paris, Eugenie, a young woman in a controlling, patriarchal household, reveals to her grandmother that she "sees dead people." As a result, she ends up in the Salpetriere Asylum. Eugenie was already problematic for occasionally taunting her father, and he takes the opportunity to relieve himself of her presence.

The asylum under Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot was in much better shape than it had been previously, and Charcot made many advancements in science, but "Charcot had come to believe that susceptibility to hypnosis was an indicator of latent hysteria. He based this belief on the fact that hysterical symptoms could be reproduced by hypnotic suggestions (Fancher, 1985, p. 54)." (source)

Women in the Salpetriere Asylum range from those who suffer from epilepsy, dementia, "hysteria", sexual trauma, and in Eugenie's case the insanity of seeing spirits. But Eugenie is not insane, and soon enough, Genevieve, the head nurse has to deal with this particular problem.

The book is short and well-researched, and I found it intriguing in its rather unusual approach. The inclusion of spiritualism, family dynamics, and the names of Charcot's famous students were sometimes at odds. Medical science, especially in the area of mental health, has undergone remarkable and often cruel trends and so have cultural norms. Women are much better off today--they can vote, get divorced, retain custody of their children, work outside the home, etc. And yet...women are still expected to meet some of the social norms of a century ago, don't trust that reporting abuse will be taken seriously, and are called hysterical if they respond in a manner accepted as OK for men.

Women Who Defied Gender Roles Were Once Imprisoned in Asylums

Restoring Perspective: Life and Treatment at the London Asylum

Women's Admission to Asylums in United States of America

It was difficult to find accounts of the Le Bal des Folles at the Salpetriere Asylum because almost everything led back to the novel and the upcoming film, but I finally found this. (links are on my blog)

NetGalley/Abrams Books

Historical fiction. Sept. 7, 2021. Print length: 224 pages.

I did not love the writing style of this. I also think that this felt confused because having this as a work of historical fiction about old asylums would have been fascinating enough without adding a supernatural element (reminds me of AHS Asylum). Overall this had potential but not for me!

This book didn't actually feel like a fully-fledged story, and I think I might be okay with that. Gothic-tinged and dark, it entailed the troubles of mental illness in a way that I found fascinating. I'm not sure if it was worth picking up, but as it was so short, and the setting was interesting I can't exactly complain.

The Mad Women's Ball takes place in France during the 1885, focusing on the infamous Salpetriere Asylum. The author explores the dehumanizing treatment of the women who are placed there, who are more likely to be traumatized or viewed as inconvenient rather than insane.

Overall, I'm disappointed. While the topic of the book was important I felt like the delivery was subpar. I'm not sure if something was lost in translation but I found the writing for the first third of the book to be awkward and impersonal. We were "told" what was happening instead of "seeing" it for ourselves. Character development was lacking and I never could connect to any of them. Dr. Charcot, who was mentioned in the blurb, was there only in the far shadows of the background having little impact. The emphasis on our main character (Eugenie) escaping in the blurb had me believing it would be a bigger plot point than what it actually was. The reality was unimpressive in it's predictability and lack of imagination.

The lack of connection to the characters, along with a weak plot, left me feeling disappointed. I didn't dislike the Mad Women's Ball enough to DNF it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I devour Historical Fiction like it is a sweet treat when in reality it is sad and heartbreaking and full of the information of by-gone years you don't learn in school.. If you are lucky enough to stumble upon "THe Mad Women's Ball" by Victoria Mas you will find a story that very well could be a true story as so many women's lives and stories were stolen by places such as Salpetriere Asylum in Paris.
All over the world women were locked away from everything from headaches to being truly mad. This novel is the tale of some of those women.
Full of rich detail and empathy this novel will check all the boxes of an avid Historical Fiction reader.

An interesting book about the Salpetriere Asylum: Paris, 1885. This was where women could be sent for acting out in any way contrary to the accepted norms of the times, madness having little to do with it; and that makes part of the story truly disturbing. But beyond that it is also a story of a sisterhood among some of the woman and the care they provide one another. Short and well written / translated.

I mostly read thriller/ suspense books but do like to mix it up every few books and read an historical gothic type and this one didn’t disappoint.

When I read about women in these historical books it makes me think how far society has come. We’ve still a long way to go but I am so glad I was not born into 1885! The treatment of women by husbands and fathers was so cold hearted - did they have any emotion or empathy?! I did like in this story how some of the ‘Mad Women’ had found a bond and looked out for each other.

I believe this story is being made into a film on Amazon which I will look out for as I’m interested to see how the characters come to life on screen.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
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Thank you to @netgalley @abramsbooks #overlookpress for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Gripping. A literary, historical, gothic and supernatural fiction. The title speaks to an annual ball that the rich would attend so they could gawk at the women committed to a Parisian asylum, set in 1885. The appalling ways women were treated historically could still surprise me. And I’ve always been interested by the way “mental illness,” “hysteria” and “patients” were treated and mistreated 200 years and so on, ago. I like the way this book was written succinctly, without sacrificing the ambience of the time. I appreciated how Mas wove mental health, spiritualism and feminist histories together. It was a quick read as well.

The Mad Women’s Ball intrigued me from the moment I discovered it on NetGalley. I had not seen any reviews, nor mention of this one on the ‘gram or goodreads, so I had zero expectations.

It had all the ingredients for me…
👈🏻it’s set back in the 1880s,
👆🏻in a mental asylum in Paris,
👉🏻has been translated from French,
👇🏻 is dark and atmospheric, gothic and unhinged,
🤙🏻 gave me an excuse to start a new genre trend ‘hysterical fiction(c)’

I loved the first half. From the get-go I was immersed. I anticipated where the story would go. I got sucked into the atmosphere and was really happy I chose this as my current read.

But then…

The second half saw a quicker pace and the story started to move too fast. Mas doesn’t like to leave you hanging and explains precedent/historic events in the characters lives almost immediately after a development of sorts, so there isn’t a lot left up in the air as you read. I wanted to chew on things but I didn’t have a chance! The character’s evolution was a tad rushed and I felt like I left for a toilet break and someone left the book running and soon after I returned it was over. The end was like the fastest application of a neat little bow I ever did see.

But also…

I give it a positive overall rating because all in all, I really enjoyed it. It’s original and well researched. I wish it was longer so I could have seen a little more of the peripheral, the character history and the goings on in the asylum.

I guess I could round it up and say it was like going on the humble tea cup ride - quick, a little frenzied, fun at the time but I wanted it to keep going a few more laps around and leave me feeling a little bit gross in the guts given the theme’s potential.

The beauty of this book is the "matter of fact" way it goes about discussing the misdiagnoses of patients (women patients), the way a woman's voice was nonexistent, or the threat of hysteria followed by being thrown in a sanatorium is enough of a punch to the gut. Why? Because this wasn't all that long ago. Women were subjected to what male felt was warranted. They had no opinions, no right to decide what they wished to do with their lives, let alone if and who they married. Or better yet, the fear of disgracing the family name being more worrisome than a young woman begging her father not to throw her away simply because she may be different.

This book was both mind gripping and appalling for the amount of disrespect and shame that went towards women. I found the book fascinating and also scary in the same respect of what I said before - this wasn't all that long ago. This was how women were treated - whether they were mentally disabled or not. It never mattered to begin with.

Definitely a good read. There is some serious subject content (i.e., rape, incest, attempted murder, child rape, victim shaming...) in this in regards to the travesties that women were subjected to. While intense, this story shows the different sides of each (mad)woman and her “supposed” illness as well as those that are ill brought on by trauma.

My Rating: 4 stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A fascinating glimpse into a unique snapshot of history, and an intimate portrait of two women struggling through a period of both heartbreaking and triumphant transition. This was thoroughly entertaining in the traditional sense, and yet it's also very thought-provoking (without any sign of preachiness), and even a bit fear inducing. I loved this beautiful portrait of these haunted women. **Thank you so so much to both NetGalley and Overlook Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

The Lowdown: The Salpetriere is an infamous Parisian institution, a hostpital/asylum that finds itself in the more (supposedly) enlightened Victorian Era now being run by a doctor who's public lectures featuring madwomen has made him (and the hospital) famous for his new ideas on curing the mental illnesses of women. Of course the hospital is mostly just a place where women who have become troublesome or unwanted are handed of by the men in their life to never be heard from again.

Genevieve is a longtime nurse of the hospital, a stoic figure who's scientific bendings have led her to study medicine and view her wards as simple sickly patients who require treatment as with any other illness. Any warm and fuzzy proclivities she may have had once, disappeared when her younger sister died of tuberculosis at age 16. Eugenie is the daughter of a well to do banker, and has grown up in a rigid environment where women are meant to be seen and not heard. There's just one problem, Eugenie can see ghosts. Just as she's beginning to think she has found a way for herself in this life, her secret is revealed and her father dumps her at the Salpetriere, washing his hands of her for good.

The two women's stories intersect (along with some other characters, both good and bad, from the asylum) and come to a head at the grand event of the season - the annual Ball where the creme de la creme of society come to spend an evening dancing and socializing with the "mad women" of the Salpetriere dressed as Gypsies, Harlequins, Witches and more.

This is a heartbreaking look at what has happened to "unwanted" women for many hundreds of years...and yet some find peace within it's walls, while others struggle to break free, dreaming of doctors and other men who can save them and carry them away. The subplot of Eugenie's ability to see ghosts was particularly intriguing and added another dimension to the story. Parts of it were uncomfortable for me to read, no matter how much I tell myself we live in a different time, in a different world, its still scary how easy it was for men to toss these girls and women in and throw away the key. It's scary how little power they had over their own lives and that is definitely fear inducing to me. However there were also beautiful and poignant moments of sacrifice, success, resilience and hope amongst it all.

With a mixture of literary, gothic, and historical vibes this is a must read fans of any of those genres.

This book is an artful blend of historical fiction and the supernatural.

What I found to be more chilling than a young woman who can see dead people, is the betrayal that so many women suffered during this time period when family and friends would commit them to asylums as a means of control.

I loved the writing, I felt deeply for the female characters, and I really enjoyed the story. It opened my eyes to how far society has come relating to women’s rights.

A thoroughly informative read that explores the mental asylums that women were sent to in the past. This book shined a light on the cruelties of men and society when dealing with women. Genevieve's journey allowed for the reader to see various aspects of this horrible places and the treatment of women.