Thank you to ABRAMS, The Overlook Press, Victoria Mas and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas is a literary historical fiction novel combining the real life treatment of women for hysteria during the 1880s in Paris, France at the hospital Salpêtrière , with Allan Kardac's "scandalous" Book of Spirits into a heartbreaking, unforgettable story exploring ideas of freedom, women's rights and sisterhood.

Geneviève works as the senior nurse at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. She still grieves for her little sister who she lost when she was younger. She does not believe in God but instead puts her faith in science and medicine. Eugénie is 19, a free spirit, educated, the daughter of a lawyer and has been able to see spirits since she was young girl. After she finally confesses to her family what she's capable of, she's taken to the Salpêtrière, right before the annual ball and left there like all the other inconvenient, unwanted women. Eugénie is desperate to escape, but for that she's going to need Geneviève's help.

I was thrilled to get an arc of this book. It's definitely the type of historical fiction that I enjoy and seek out. It is an immensely well written, well researched, debut novel, which has gotten rave reviews and won numerous awards in France. The pace is slow, but steady and engaging, the plot is both riveting and horrifying, all of which makes for an extremely quick read.

Ultimately though, I felt that the book was missing something. The book seemed very, very short and straightforward. The reader is shown everything and there is nothing left to interpretation. I went into the book expecting something truly amazing and I feel like I got just okay. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong, it just left me wanting more. Recommended for lovers of: historical fiction, francophiles, women's fiction, psychology, general fiction, history and tearjerkers.

FYI, not a trigger but: Some people may be offended by the way religion is addressed a few times in the book. The novel is not making any religious or political statements, it has to do with the mind of the character and how it relates to the overall storyline.

The horrible plight of women who were institutionalized in the previous centuries is something that I am sure most of us are aware of, and it's something that always saddens me to hear about. Still, it's because of this that I find myself interested in learning more about the time period and the experiences of these women in order to make sure we do not ever return to similar behaviors and to honor their struggles. The Mad Women's Ball takes us back to 1885 at the Salpetriere Asylum in Paris where we meet a variety of women involved with the institution, both as patients and nurses, and through Victoria Mas' storytelling we get a peak into these women's difficult and complex lives. Please be aware going into this book that due to the subject and general nature of this story being set in a women's asylum, there are some sensitive and difficult topics broached, and the treatment of some of the women may be difficult to read.

The Mad Women's Ball switches between the narratives of Genevieve, a nurse at Salpetriere, and Eugenie, a young woman from a good family who is sent to the institution due to her claims that she can speak with the spirits of the dead. I really loved getting to experience things from both of these women's different perspectives, and how although they both have their own respective power dynamics between one another, Genevieve also is subject to the power dynamics at play around her at an even higher level. Eugenie is a captivating young woman of incredible intelligence, and it's hard not to feel livid at the world on her behalf. Genevieve, similarly, is an incredibly capable woman who has carved out a life and career for herself as a senior nurse, and I liked seeing how she interacted with, treated, and even thought of her patients (even if it wasn't always overwhelmingly positive). Mas also handles character development incredibly well, and as a result of this there are some rather heartbreaking events that do occur by the end of the story.

Mas is not shy about diving into the practices used against women at asylums from these time periods and how the idea of "mad women" sometimes took on its own salacious life. There are times when the narrative feels as though it is focused solely on conveying the struggles and treatment in a way that feels overdone, but overall I think everything blends nicely and the narrative commentary mostly feels natural and fitting with what is happening on the page. We get a glimpse into the methods doctors used to "treat" these different "mad"women–just about all of which are truly horrifying–and how easy it was for men to discard the women in their lives to an asylum for just about any reason they choose. The women are meant to be going to these institution in order to "get better," but most know that it is simply a way to cast off women, and that no hope is often found (though not impossible to find!).

Overall, I've given The Mad Women's Ball four stars! I really enjoyed and appreciated reading this novel and how much it manages to tell us about the 'asylums' of this period. Victoria Mas performed some excellent research into this topic and crafted a meaningful, tragic, and compelling story featuring two unique women. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the subject!

This is a debut novel published first in France.
Eugenie is the daughter of an well known father who is outspoken. She and her brother belong to the family in name only and have an unusual relationship.

Eugenie finally tells her grandmother she can tail to the spirits and he grandmother betrays her to her father. Eugenia is sent to Salpetrierr, an asylum for women outside Paris. Dr. Charcot and his aids run tests on the women to see if they are normal. These are not tests run today.

Eugenia helps the senior nurse in finding her long dead sister, who in turns helps her.
The Mad women's ball is held at the asylum each Lent for socialites to attend.

This short book will hold your attention. Mental illness has always been something people are afraid of. In this book you see the outcome of this fear.
5 stars .

The Mad Women’s Ball is an interesting look at the treatment of women in late 1800’s France told through the eyes of “mad women” and with a slight paranormal twist. Our two main point of view characters are Genevieve, the head nurse of the Salpetriere Asylum who commands respect, and Eugenie, a young woman who can see spirits and has been locked up in the asylum by her family. This book definitely took a turn from what I thought it would be about based on the synopsis, but I think it did a great job telling a succinct and impactful story in such a short page count. The author took her time to craft characters that the reader can become attached to and feel for while they progress through the story. I do think the ending was slightly rushed, but it was overall a really good story. I am super interested to see the movie when it releases!

I have been pondering this review because I wanted to provide more feedback than simply saying this was a letdown. When I first read the summary I assumed this would be a firm five-star read for me, but it is a three, at best. I think the problem here is the length of the story. It would have been more powerful as a short story (on par with Shirley Jackson) or as a bit longer novel. Taking it as it is, I felt like I read an almost complete novel outline, but missed out on the final round of detail additions. The upcoming Amazon movie is likely to be better than the book.

Back in the 1800s, the main cure for any female ailment is orgasms as well as long periods of rest. Serious cases were granted mixtures of cocaine and snake oil. So on the days when my own neuroses get too much to me, I think of that iconic Tumblr post from days of old: you gotta do cocaine about it.

Set in France, 1885, once a year, members of the public are invited to attended a ball at a local mental hospital where the institutionalised are paraded out for show. The infamous Salpêtrière asylum prides itself on caring for the insane and the hysterical under the tutelage of Doctor Charcot.

Recently-admitted patient Eugénie has a newfound ability that allows her to see ghosts, a claim which leads to her being thrown into the asylum and disowned from her bourgeois family. Not only that, her main carer is the senior nurse, Geneviève, a staunchly anti-religion woman, long burnt-out from caring for the women in the asylum. So what is Eugénie to do when Geneviève’s long-dead sister begins speaking to her?

First published in 2019, The Mad Women’s Ball is an award-winning French novel that is soon to be released as a film. Ahead of its release, NetGalley very kindly gave me an English translation for the novel.

To be real with you, my knowledge of History is limited to the World Wars with a sprinkling of understanding about the Cold War. Salpêtrière is a real hospital—still standing, in fact!—that was renowned for its contributions in furthering our understanding of hysteria and many other diseases. While these balls never happend in real life, I loved how Mas’ portrayal of Salpêtrière and of France in the 1800s are all based in actual history. Her research is so thorough that the texts and characters mentioned within the novel who are credited in footnotes at the end with further reading.

While it cannot be denied that some of the women in the asylum are certifiably insane, others like Eugénie are more rebellious than mentally-ill. The Mad Women’s Ball is an unquestionably feminist novel that questions how many of these “hysterical” women locked away are actually just women who are tired of men’s shit?

Unfortunately, this meant that in line with the social environment of the 1800s plus the setting of the novel, there are graphic depictions rape and self harm, a fact that I had wished I had known before reading. (For reference, you can check Storygraph for a list of content warnings for any books that you read, I just forgot to do so this time.) In my opinion, the scenes are skippable—your understanding of the story or the characters’ arcs will not be affected.

Even weeks after reading The Mad Women’s Ball, I’m still thinking about the nurses and the patients within the asylum. I could not put the book down when I was reading it, and I ended up devouring it in a night. This novel is definitely a worthwhile read, even if you’re planning on watching the movie when it’s out later in September.

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." (Akira Kurosawa)

With glazed eyes, the bevy of women cluster around the dirty windowpanes. They lean with foreheads pressed upon glass observing the streets below. They view people who scurry alone or in pairs trying to brace themselves against the fury of the wind and the cutting edges of the icy flakes. Each boasts a destination with hurried footsteps. Frazzled minds from without.......frazzled minds from within.

Victoria Mas sets her provocative novel that will illicit differing responses from the readers as they choose to turn the pages. It's March of 1885 and Mas dares us to enter into the walls of the renowned La Salpetriere Asylum for Women in Paris. It is a place of longstanding with patients ranging from 13-65 years of age. Patients who differ in their signs of distress as the widening variations of sweeping flowers in a French country field.

Mas has done explicit research. The mentally ill and the mentally challenged were only part of the residents of this stone establishment. And this was on par with the treatment of mental illness around the world both then and now. "Patients/Lunatics/Nobodies". Most asylums were holding places for females who had fallen from grace as determined by their judgmental husbands and fathers. Any woman who was particularly verbal and disagreed with the head of the household could find themselves silenced for the rest of their lives. Pursuing a career or an interest banned by society would find yourself under lock and key. More's the pity for lost lives and lost talents.

Madame Genevieve is the head nurse in longstanding for twenty years here at La Salpetriere. She follows the orders given by the famous Dr. Charcot, neurologist and authority on women's mental illnesses of that time period. Charcot, and others like him, resorted to using hypnosis on women as they stood like lab rats before a crowd of male professors. The nurses subdued unruly patients with cloths soaked in ether or chloroform. Daily life within the asylums was spent subduing the uncooperative.

Genevieve remains removed from those around her, but she displays a different temperment in regard to her sister, Blandine, who passed away. She stores a treasure-trove of letters she has penned to the dead Blandine over the years. But a new patient, Eugenie, will turn her world upside down.

Eugenie has become a patient at the asylum due to her insolence against her father. Even her grandmother turns against her when Eugenie expresses an interest in Spiritualism. Abandon all hope who enter here. And this is where Victoria Mas' novel will be taken to a higher tier of thought. We will enter into the minds and actions of both Genevieve and Eugenie. And we will view the heartbreaking realities visited upon women in those circumstances.

The Mad Women's Ball is displayed with a gorgeous cover with varying choices of colors and designs. It's translated from the original French and has won awards there. It may not be for everyone. But my take is that even though it's a work of fiction, it leans on true factions of life for so many. Perhaps awareness, in itself, is a small inlet into restoring these women sullied by those in the past.

I received a copy of The Mad Women's Ball through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to ABRAMS (The Overlook Press) and to Victoria Mas for the opportunity.

This just didn’t end up being a book that interested me. When I first read the premise, I was very excited and invested, but getting into it made it clear that it just wasn’t for me. Hopefully it works for others out there!

A captivating story that will suck you in and refuse to let go! I loved The Mad Women's Ball from the moment I saw the synopsis and I'm glad that the book itself did not disappoint. I'm deeply fascinated with the myth of female hysteria and the dark legacy of asylums, so this story was not only fascinating to me, but also somewhat informative. I loved the characters and their development, as well as the plot and fast pace and the absolute chaos. Definitely recommend!

The Mad Women's Ball is a historical fiction that follows a handful of women at an asylum who must navigate the French patriarchal society of 1885. The characters range in perspective and storyline; from a senior nurse to a newly arrived "patient," and through these varying perspectives the author can present a level of nuance that allows space for the women to feel differently about their existence in the asylum. The setting feels well researched while still feeling connected to the reader, and I felt engaged throughout. The "ball' that is the main event of the story did feel a bit rushed to me, but overall the plot moved at a pace that made this book a very quick read. Thank you Netgalley and ABRAMS, The Overlook Press for a copy of this ebook!

1885. Paris. An asylum for “mad women”. The social event of the year- The Mad Woman’s Ball.

“The Salpetriere is a dumping ground for women who have disturbed the peace. And asylum for those whose sensitivities do not tally with what is expected of them. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion. “

•This book shines a light on what happened to women who expressed themselves or somehow had themselves deemed “unwell” in previous centuries. It is a very intriguing piece of historical fiction that holds truth within the pages.

•I really enjoyed reading this one and learning a few new things about how utterly devoid women were of making their own decisions- and how that led to the “Mad Woman’s Ball” being the highlight of the year for the patients of the Salpetriere Asylum.

•I suggest this book to those looking for an intriguing fast paced read based on chaotic true events. 🖤

Thank you to @netgalley for the gifted e-arc! This book comes out on 9/07 so be sure to snag it then! Also this book is soon to be made into a film so keep your eyes peeled for that as well 🖤

The Mad Women's Ball is one of my favorite reads of the year. This book was engaging and devastating right from its opening pages. Centering on the lives of women institutionalized at the Salpetriere Asylum in Paris, in the late 19th century. the book mainly follows Eugenie, a young woman who can see spirits, and the head nurse of the asylum, Genevieve. Mas' writing is powerful. I found myself highlighting passage after passage. It resonates eerily in 2021. The world-building and level of detail Mas provides throughout her debut is fantastic. 19th century Paris is a world I know little about. The setting, characters, and plot are all engrossing. I highly recommend it for fans of women's fiction, historical fiction, and dystopian works.

Thank you very much to Abrams and NetGalley for providing me a copy of the e-arc. I can't wait to see what Victoria Mas writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early read.

I cant' decide if I liked the The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas. It was a bestseller in France, which I found surprising, but perhaps it was because the sense of history and place is so very French.. If I could give it stars in parts, I would give the first half 4 stars and the second half 2 stars. I liked the set-up of the book - these unwanted and discarded women making a home for themselves in the Asylum; Genevieve and her years of devotion to her boss and her job; and Eugenie and her secret talent. It all leads up to the annual Mad Women's Ball (an appalling tradition, but a tradition nonetheless), where the Paris elite come to gawk at the mad women dressed in their finery. The conclusion of the story, for me at least, wraps up and ends so abruptly. I also found Genevieve's actions at the end out of character, which made the end that much more strange. Read this one for the descriptions of Paris in the late 1880's, but be prepared to want a bit more from the ending.

The Mad Women's Ball is an insular book about the Salpetriere Asylum in Paris in the 1800s. We follow the head nurse, a well off lady, and a whole cast of women. Victoria Mas is able to pack so much story into a small book. We see so clearly how women of this time were constantly walking a tightrope to make sure that the men around them didn't throw them aside and into the asylum for the smallest infractions. Many of these women's only crime was having the gaul to be obstinate to the men around them, others had misunderstood illnesses; all were abused not only by their family's outside but the male medical staff within. Mas shows us how quickly women "fall from grace" in this society, and what they have to do to get out or maintain some semblance of sanity.

TW: on page rape, medical abuse

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This novel is a gem. I can certainly see why it has been a bestseller internationally and has been optioned for a movie. The book is quite short, which feels like a rarity these days, but Mas makes the most of every scene. You can picture every character, empathize with the terror and helplessness they are experiencing, and feel the creepiness of the hospital. I can’t wait to see this on the big screen and to read more of Mas’ work.

My Recommendation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Mad Women's Ball”
by Victoria Mas

A Daring Dance Depicting the Deranged History of Parisian Women's Mental Healthcare

For almost 200-years, inconvenient Parisian women—prostitutes, libertines, free-thinkers, hysterics, lunatics, criminals, spiritualists, and the unwanted (whether rich or poor)—found themselves incarcerated in the Salpertriere Asylum because they were a nuisance to society or an embarrassment to their families.

In Victoria Mas’ poignantly revealing debut historical fiction (soon to be made into a major motion picture), “The Mad Women’s Ball,” many of the dirty secrets of this real facility that is still in existence and is now part of the Sorbonne, are brought to light with painful, heart-wrenching grace.

Set in the late 1880s, this is a fictionalized account of the Salpertriere and one of it's most famous doctors, Neuro-Psychiatrist and Pathologist Jean-Martin Charot and some of his “practices and treatments” on asylum patients under his care.

Per Mas’ research and novel, once admitted as a patient at the Salpertriere, gaining release was rare—whether actually sane or not. Living among the mad apparently was contagious and difficult to prove otherwise.

Such was the case of one protagonist, Eugénie Cléry, a respectful lawyer’s daughter who found herself a resident at the Asylum soon after she confided to her grandmother that she could commune with spirits of the dead.

“The Mad Women's Ball” is a fast-paced darkly emotional feast for the mind and senses. When finished you’ll be smarter and truly blessed that you didn't live when you could be locked up for expressing divergent opinions.

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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs
REVIEWER: J. Hunt
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Mad Women's Ball”
by Victoria Mas
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction |
Publication Date: 06 September 2021
Publisher: The Overlook Press, an imprint of ABRAMS

My Sincerest Appreciation to NetGalley, Author Victoria Mas, and The Overlook Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, for Providing this Advance Reader's Copy for Review.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks to NetGalley and ABRAMS for making that happen.

I knew right off the bat that I would devour this story. A tale based upon a Parisian asylum that took a dark look at what it was like to be a woman in the late 1800s. As a psychology student, this era of psychotherapy horrified me, all for the gross mistreatment of women. The Mad Women's Ball certainly did not disappoint.

This book was evocative and well-written. The characters were engaging and charismatic. It was an interesting read of a very dark period of time.

I'm always interested in the mental health field, and this historical novel about an asylum in Paris in the late 1800s was fascinating to me. I was pulled in from page one, and I never lost interest. What those poor women had to deal with is almost unimaginable. I was rooting for Eugenie and Genevieve throughout, and was satisfied by the ending.

This book set in a Paris asylum in 1885 had the elements I enjoy in a book- a bit of historical fiction and a bit of a ghostly element.. It showcases the facts that women’s rights have come a long way and the cruel mental treatment these women faced due to being used as test subjects for lectures and a form of entertainment to outsiders once the annual ball commences.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but wished it would have been a bit longer to close up what I feel were a few loose ends.

I really enjoyed this book--in a time where I feel like a lot of books focus on the unequal treatment of women, I thought The Mad Women's Ball did an excellent job of portraying just how easily those in power can abuse their power to silence others. Experiencing the sanatorium through Eugenie's eyes was a heartbreaking window into how easily women throughout history who have been deemed "troublemakers" could be disowned and disposed of by their family. The combination of Eugenie's and Genevieve's characters also provided one of the best portrayals of gaslighting I've seen in a book. One of my favorite parts was witnessing Genevieve's change in attitude toward the women in the sanatorium, largely through her interactions with Eugenie. However, I also really liked (and thought it was more believable) that Genevieve sought out other advice, particularly from a women who had been released from the sanatorium, rather than completely changing her view of the institution just because of one patient. I thought that her reckoning with the role she played in imprisoning other women (many of whom aren't as "mad" as they seem) was well-developed, and that she didn't truly start to question the sanatorium's purpose until she witnessed how easily her own sanity could be called into question. I also really enjoyed the glimpses we saw of other women in the sanatorium, particularly Therese, who I think provided an accurate account of why some women who weren't "mad" might want to stay at the sanatorium for their own safety. To me, Louise's character was a heartbreaking portrayal of how abuse and lack of support can make someone appear "mad" and make them more vulnerable to future predators. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and all of the women in it; my only criticism would be that sometimes the phrasing could be a little awkward, but I think that's due more to the translation from French than the actual writing.