"Illness dehumanizes; it makes puppets of these women, at the mercy of their grotesque symptoms, rag dolls in the hands of doctor who manipulate and examine every fold of skin; curious animals who elicit only a clinical curiosity. They are no longer mothers or adolescent girls, they are no longer women to be considered or contemplated, they will never be women who are desired or loved; they are patients. Lunatics. Nobodies."

This was a hard story to read in a good way. The story follows multiple women as they are connected in some way to the Salpetriere Asylum (Paris, 1885) where women are sent to be studied for neurological issues by families and a society that no longer wants them.

"No woman can be certain that her words, her aspirations, her personality will not lead to her being shut away behind the fearsome walls of the hospital in the thirteenth arrondissement."

For its time, the asylum is on the cutting edge of new medical procedures. The doctors use hypnotism on women in order to further study the symptoms of their "hysteria" while hundreds of other men watch. Women and even young girls are subjected to this and other procedures such as ovarian compression, hot pokers inserted into their vaginas, or being drugged to "cure" them.

Of course, during this time "madwomen" could be anyone, and in this story, were often women seemingly experiencing signs of PTSD after continual physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. Our main characters include Therese, an ex-prostitute who murdered her pimp/lover; Louise, who was brutally raped by her uncle and then abused by her aunt; Eugenie, who is visited by spirits; and Genevieve, who has been an unsympathetic nurse at the asylum for 20 years.

Unfortunately, I think this book fell a little flat for me and the parts that did pop seemed like unnecessarily descriptive traumas that didn't fit the tone of the rest of the novel. The pace was odd and POVs could be confusing, I wasn't always sure who's thoughts we were following for a few moments. The feminist lessons throughout the book were overdone when I would have enjoyed more showing than telling. I had too many questions than this short book could answer. I did appreciate the look into these women's lives and the idea of freedom and insanity perceived differently by all of them. I think this is going to make a great movie, actually (Amazon in September I believe?). I'm still giving this 4 stars because it's such an interesting story, I highlighted a lot of great quotes, I just wanted more depth!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC!

The Mad Women's Ball is an effortlessly gritty and meaningful story that needed to be told. Victoria Mas's writing is the standout to my experience reading through. In a short and to the point way the bitterness of the atmosphere kept me on the edge till the end. There was no sympathy for the characters which held the realistic brutal value it needed.
This was so close to being a five-star read for me but fell off just at the end. At a steady pace, the book left me wanting more. In conclusion, this was an eye-opening read that will be memorable and well recommended.
Thanks, @NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Illness dehumanizes.” And certainly madness in the 1880’s is the ultimate in dehumanizing diseases. The story takes place in the Salpetriere asylum in 1885 Paris. The patients are all ages, all levels of society. Not all the women are truly sick, some have just been deemed inconvenient or problematic by their families and placed here. “The Salpetriere is a dumping ground for women who have disturbed the peace. An asylum for those whose sensitivities do not tally with what is expected of them. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion.”
Dr. Charcot is the famous neurologist who uses hypnosis to induce “fits” in his patients so that they can be observed and studied. He and the other doctors treat the patients like specimens to be studied. Genevieve is his senior nurse, a woman who believes in the good doctor, but he doesn’t care a whit for her opinion. And Eugenie, whose father has her admitted after she tells her grandmother about her ability to see the dead.
Based on a true event, once a year there is the Mad Women’s Ball, a chance for le beau monde of Paris to come witness the women, to watch the spectacle of them dressed in their ball gowns. To the invitees, it’s entertainment; to the patients, it’s a diversion from the boredom of their everyday existence.
The book shines when it describes the lives of women, their lack of choices, the way men control them in all matters. There’s also a great sense of time and place, both within and outside of the asylum walls.
I can’t say that the magic realism of a woman that sees and hears the dead really worked for me. I would have preferred a story based on Eugenie’s other qualities, her independence, her intelligence, her unwillingness to conform, being the reason she was locked up. But the device obviously advances the plot.
This is a dark reminder of what it meant to be female in previous centuries. This is well done historical fiction which would make a strong book club selection.
My thanks to NetGalley and The Overlook Press for an advance copy of this book.

The Paris insane asylum is home to women who are mentally ill or morally degenerate, according to the citizens of Paris. Most are there due to traumas or seizures, but Eugenie is there because she sees ghosts. Can she escape from the prison her family has put her in, or will she be forced to live with the other madwomen, both alive and dead?

I'm so tired of rape being a plot point in books. One of the characters is raped not once but twice on page. Turned me off from the rest of the story.

I really enjoyed the historical setting in this novel, the details were everything here. But I honestly found it really hard to get into this story, the pacing was very slow and I didn't connect to the characters. Ultimately, I feel this was an issue of personal taste and subject matter since the set-up and writing should be poised to deliver. Unfortunately I did not finish that one--but that shouldn't discourage you from giving this one a shot.

Thank you to @netgalley and the Publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a beautifully translated book that incorporated some historical elements and gave off a dark gothic feel. Just really a fascinating and quick read with such a compelling storyline and characters.

The plot and story development was very female driven and gave voice to their stories and truths. I also absolutely loved the description of mid-nineteenth century Paris and all its background. Again, the writing/translation was just so beautiful and captivating.

All the characters in this book truly shined. Each one of them had their own story that was so heartbreaking and realistic. However, I will say the ending did feel a bit rushed and I would have liked just a tab bit more on certain characters.

Overall, just a beautiful and compelling debut with strong female characters.

The Mad Women's Ball was a quick and captivating book. The novel is set in France in 1885. It is about two women. Geneviève is a senior nurse at the Salpêtrière asylum and Eugénie who is admitted to the asylum even though she is sane. The novel is about how these two women's paths intersect and how they influence one another. What I liked in the novel were the vivid descriptions of the setting and lifestyle of Paris in 1885. I also liked the observations that the author made about how women are perceived in society and how they are punished if they deviate from the prescribed path of society. The Mad Women's Ball is a novel that makes you think and brings to light the hardships that women face and the sisterhood they build in adversities.

Have you ever read a book and thought, “Just get on with it!” Well, that was my thought for most of this book. It was interesting and I wanted to see where it went, which is why I gave it three stars but there was a lot of build up (11 of the 12 chapters) before we even got to the ball, and honestly we were not there long enough for it to count.

If you wanted to find the “over-arching idea of the book” as my professors used to say it would have been that you always need to listen to your voice and do what you think is right. The main characters did have a lot of development in the book but overall it was just very long winded.

This book has the potential to be one of the most talked-about books of the year. This fiercely feminist novel takes you inside Parisian insane asylum in 1885 and delves into all the ways women have been minimized and not believed over the centuries. More than that, it will rip your heart in two.

Nineteen-year-old Eugenie is outspoken, strong-willed and can see and hear the dead. It's the first two as much as the last that convince her father to commit her to an insane asylum. There, she meets Genevieve, a nurse who has devoted her life to the asylum and worships the head doctor. But when Eugenie carries a message from her dearly-missed dead sister, Genevieve begins to question everything she once knew was true. Eugenie struggles between hopelessness and longing for escape. Both women's fates will never be the same again once they meet.

Inside the asylum, the girls broken by the world are heart-wrenching, from sweet, naive Louise who keeps her heart open despite her tragic past, to motherly Therese who's been there long enough to be part of the soul of the institution and knits a shawl for each resident, giving them something made with love. Each of the committed girls has her own hopes for the Mad Women's Ball, where the elite of Parisian society come to stare at the mad girls.

The emotional ending will keep you thinking about it for a long time.

Trigger warning: rape, mental health issues

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Overlook Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another winner of a novel. I'm on a "good book" roll lately and with ARCs that is rolling the dice, sometimes.

Set in Paris, late 1800's, this is a book about an asylum where women are put, not necessarily for being crazy, but because they aren't wanted, by parents, husbands, children, whoever. An asylum to repress females for just being. Sure there are some that are crazy, one being a murdered (with good reason, I thought), The Salpatriere Asylum has all male doctors who treat the women, like an object to study, rather than....women or people I should say in this age of binary, none binary, and what not. But back then women were women and every year, there is a big fancy ball held, where all the Parisian elite, rub shoulders and gawk at the "crazies".

Eugenie, A 19 year old patient, was locked away because she sees " spirits".She was put in here by her wealthy father. This book was another winner for me. Rich in history, women's voices, and opposition of, and whether there are actually "spirits", so a little of the paranormal as well.

Great book, fast paced, and unique!

After they stopped burning us at the stake they put us in asylums. That was so much easier because the asylums were very legal yet not lethal for maybe years and by then who would know or remember you were even there? It was so easy, you see, to find yourself dropped off by a member of your family a the front steps of an asylum and never given another thought. It didn’t take much.
Since the 17th century women were “sorted,” as the author says. She tells us first came the poor, the beggars, then the depraved and prostitutes and then later the madwomen, the hysterics and simpletons. For some, you only needed to have an opinion and speak it. Yet, for all its ease in dispensing with problem women family members the aristocracy didn’t use the service often because they didn’t want the stigma to follow them into the dinners and drawing rooms. Yet, it did happen.
This story takes place in 1885 Paris and Eugenie has been dropped off at the front door of the Hospital Salpetriere by her aristocratic father and reluctant brother. Her “crime?” She can see the dead and made the mistake of telling her trusted grandmother, who told her father and now here she is among the mad or otherwise and examined periodically by a room full of doctors who perform experiments on them in a thinly veiled attempt to cure them.
Eugenie immediately sees someone very near and dear to Beatrice, one of the nurses at the hospital and yes, it’s hard to believe someone who tells you a deceased loved one is in the room but Eugenie lets the dead speak for themselves and Beatrice has to decide whether to listen.
The madwomen’s ball takes place once a year at the beginning of Lent. In the weeks leading up to it the patients are excited with the diversion planning how they would be dressed in gowns of their making or choosing and allowed to mingle with the aristocracy of Paris. The aristocracy is there to gawk. It’s quite the event no matter which side you are on.
I’m not going to tell you anymore about the story. I read this in two nights. I’m surprised it took that long.

In the male-dominated society of 1885, disagreements with a gentleman could land a woman in an institution. When young, independent-minded Eugenie is admitted by her high-society father, readers get a glimpse inside such an institution. Madame Genevieve runs a French sanitarium for women with strict precision, but with Eugenie’s arrival, she finds herself wondering about the reasoning behind many of the policies. The power dynamics shift, and soon, distinctions of gender roles, mental health, wealth and poverty, and even death, begin to fade.

The readers are taken inside the grounds of La Salpetriere for just a few weeks of Lent, as these institutionalized women prepare for an annual gala. At the “Mad Women’s Ball”, exclusive French society gets to mingle with these crazy women. The anxiety, excitement, and frantic energy surges through the pages, balanced by the question of Eugenie’s future and her effects on the sanitarium and its residents.

In her debut novel, Victoria Mas leads the reader through the emotional turmoil suffered by her characters. I was reminded that science and health is a slowly progressing field. Viewing these patients through today’s lens of mental health was disquieting, especially in light of the famous doctor’s prescribed treatment plans. Overall, I found this book captivating, the characters memorable, and the writing engaging. I look forward to more works by this new author!

I was saddened to read that this practice of men ridding themselves of troublesome women happened in Paris as well as in the United States. I had a difficult time following the story at certain points but this may be due to the translation but still found the subject matter to be very interesting. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This book is one of those that sticks to you after you read it. What a sad, and tragic, way that so many women were treated in the 1800's.. Women who were declared "mad" were committed to the Salpetriere. Only problem is, these women were not insane. They were considered an inconvenience, or an embarrassment, to their family, mostly by a man (or occasionally a woman) in their life.
This book's strength lies in how the women survive their time in the mental hospital. (Let's call it what it is! A prison! These women are never getting out!) Eugenie may have been the main character but the head nurse, Genevieve, is the one who is truly changed by her experience. I enjoyed the book and would recommend to readers. Definitely different type of story!
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC copy for review.

The Mad Woman’s Ball is a unique and well written story that draws the reader into the 19th century, into the life and minds of the patients and allows the reader to live in another time and mindset.

I was drawn to this story because of the idea of a Mad Woman’s Ball. The idea that patients were the highlight of the social season, and they were paraded around as entertainment, was something I was interested in.

This story is so much more then that though, it is about the lives and hearts of the workers, the patients, and the social and emotional implications of the times.

This is a translated book, but it doesn’t read that way. It reads like a very soft, dark almost velvet story that covers the mind and senses. Because of the content and the time this story (and the history) this book is like diving into a part of history. Fictional or not, a mix of the tow, the story is one that will not soon leave the reader’s mind.

This story demands to be slowly read, to feel and to see, and to trust and to love every page. I will be adding a physical copy of this to my collection because it is plain brilliant!

I received an ARC via NetGalley and The Overlook Press and I am leaving an honest review.

I sometimes feel while reading translated books that I’m missing cultural significance or the feel of the author’s original words but I did not get that feeling with this book. It was a pretty quick read but in every chapter there was at least one phrase or sentence that resonated with me. I think this would make a great book club option because I felt like I probably understood characters and their actions in a different way than another reader might. There weren’t really loose ends but the author left you with plenty to think about when it came to the characters’ actions and the resolution of their stories.

Good historical fiction combines verifiable fact with a great story… a believable story. In THE MAD WOMEN'S BALL, Victoria Mas has done the research and built a tale of what it was to be a woman, in Paris, in 1885. It is not a pretty picture. Most of the women institutionalized at Salpêtrière, the madwomen, are given unique personalities and faces that could easily mingle in society and never be given a second look both then and now.

The women of Salpêtrière are guinea pigs for Dr. Charcot's Friday lectures presented to the public as if a woman hypnotized into a debilitating fit qualifies as entertainment. His current patient of choice is Louise who does seem to suffer from mental challenges. Then there is Eugénie Cléry, daughter of a respected bourgeois family, locked away by her own father because she dares to think for herself. Finally, the nurse in charge of the ward, Geneviève Gleizes, who does not permit herself the luxury of empathy. It is through these three women that we come to understand a male dominated world where women literally must be seen and not heard.

The madwomen are permitted to socialize with the outside world just one night a year… the night of the Lenten Ball, more commonly called the Madwomen's Ball. Invitations are sent, society descends upon Salpêtrière, and the women are allowed fancy dress costumes as they are put on display.

For me, the most telling line in the book is "The Salpêtrière is a dumping ground for women who disturb the peace. An asylum for those whose sensitivities do not tally with what is expected of them. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion." There is no doubt that this book is an excellent example of both historical and feminist fiction.

A point of personal privilege… I am intrigued by books that have the word 'mad' in the title. I've been called Mad (short for Madelon) since I was a little kid. When I read the definition of 'mad' in The Devil's Dictionary, I added it to my email signature… "MAD, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech, and action derived by the conformants from the study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that they themselves are sane. - from The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce." You might bear this definition in mind when reading THE MAD WOMEN'S BALL.

This was a bit slow to start, and the back-and-forth in time at the beginning was confusing and unnecessary. Overall, though, the story was unique and interesting. A solid bet for women's book groups and readers who like historical fiction.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC!

“The Mad Woman’s Ball” by Victoria Mas comes out in September, and is about an asylum for wayward women in the heart of Paris. Women could be admitted to this asylum for any number of trespasses, from legitimate mental illness to being too intelligent, promiscuous or independent for the conservative society surrounding them. Our story follows two heroines: Genevieve, a no-nonsense nurse haunted by a lost sister, and Eugenie, a vivacious young woman who can see the dead. These two women bond and dare to escape the oppressive grip of the patriarchy, weak to the whims of a society that wants them quiet, compliant, and decorative.

This book is barely more than novella in length, but it wraps up well following some interesting worldbuilding in which we learn that not only is this a historical fiction, but also a supernatural historical fiction. The turn of genre surprised me, but it makes sense within the context of Spiritualism, which was just beginning to take off at the point that this novel was written. Translated from the French, this was a quick, feminist book with ghosts, female friendship and just enough historical details to world build. Very enjoyable.

This was one of my most anticipated reads, and I'm so disappointed.

The asylum setting isn't fully formed. It's just a place, interchangeable with many other places.

I didn't emotionally connect with any of the characters. I didn't feel the women's struggles or outrage, or anything at all. The male doctor in charge is just a man who moves in and out of the story. I had no sense of him as a person.

The writing is dull. It's all tell, no show, which is the crux of the problem. The author is telling us what these women are doing and feeling and thinking, but not letting us experience any of it ourselves.

I made it to the 50 percent point on my Kindle. I was so incredibly bored, and ultimately gave up.