It has been a dreadful read knowing these women are more of a victim than a patient. They just
happened to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time or with the wrong person that is why
they end up inside the asylum without any good reason.

Genevieve is a senior nurse at the Salpetriere Asylum who does not believe in the religion of
any kind after suffering the childhood death of her sister Blandine. She put her faith elsewhere
and that is to Dr. Charcot`s practice. As he uses hypnotism for his patients claiming that this
method cures their madness. But again most of them are not mad they are categorized as mad
by the society. The same society that hosts the Mad Women`s Ball. The said ball is going to be
used as a plan of getting out from the Asylum by Eugenie, a 19-year-old daughter of the
bourgeois family, her family is the one who had put her there for simply having a different
perspective about life. Genevieve`s beliefs have changed since she met Eugenie so she is
helping her to escape the asylum through the Ball.

The Man Women`s ball holds the climax of this story but the rest was not bad nor dull, to begin
with. this is a well-written story that would put you at your sit`s edge. A story of hope and
redemption for women who have been abused and accused wrongfully.

This is a well written book that addresses the treatment of women in 1889 Paris. Where women, whose fates are entirely controlled by men, are committed to a sanatorium for things such as grieving too hard or being independent.

Once a year the Lenten or Mad Woman’s Ball takes place where only the elite of Paris are invited to view and mingle with the women under the care of the notorious Dr. Charcot. I enjoyed the story, but wish Eugenie’s character had better development. I would have gladly read a longer version that delved deeper in to all of the characters back stories. I read this book in two days, and would have finished it in one if not for pesky things like work.

I recommend pre-ordering it as it comes out in September of this year. Readers of Lisa Jewell would enjoy this book.
TW: Rape/Mental Illness/PNES

Thank you to NetGalley, ABRAMS, The Overlook Press and the author for this free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

A short read, I read it over the course of the afternoon.

As much as I can see how it will adapt well to a movie, I found myself not the biggest fan of this novel. The story is…dull. The characters bored me. And while there is some discussion of spiritualism and a slight fantasy element, even that wasn’t fleshed out

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas is about the historically appalling treatment of women by men and how those women react to it. It is a short read. I applaud the message of women's inequality, but I believe the story could have been developed further to provide a better reader experience. More showing and less telling would have shaped the narrative into something of interest rather than permitting it to lie flat. I look forward to reading the author's future work.

I was not a huge fan of this book. I think this had a lot of potential and could have been really good but it lacked a lot of things. It lacked the factor that kept you wanting to keep reading, it lacked interesting characters, and it lacked the wow factor. The whole book we keep hearing about this ball that is to happen with the mad women being the spectacle and so you have a lot of expectations for this ball. Then at the end of the book I got to the ball scene and it was literally like 10 pages and was super boring and did not wow me at all. I would have loved for the ball to be this crazy thing that was like a circus or something but it just wasn’t that. It was literally just a regular party and nothing is described in detail. I found the scenes that took place out side of the hospital boring and I just wanted to skip over them. The only enjoyable parts for me were just the parts in the hospital and following Eugenie. Don't get me wrong I think this would be interesting to someone that was maybe doing research or just wanted to learn more about how women were so controlled and suppressed then. But that was just not what I was looking for so that is why it didn't work for me.

I tend to read a lot of books detailing the poor treatment of women over the centuries and The Mad Women's Ball did not disappoint! The Salpetriere Asylum: Paris, 1885 is where we find the "mad women" or rather, women who have become an inconvenience to the world outside. Some of the women do have health issues, but most have been put away by the men in their lives who are now finding them troublesome. Genevieve is a nurse who has been working at the asylum for twenty years. She has hardened herself to what she sees, but in her small studio at night, she writes letters to her long-dead sister. Eugenie has been put into the asylum by her father once he was told (by Eugenie's grandmother) that Eugenie sees and hears spirits. Eugenie knows she must find a way out and the one person she decides to trust is Genevieve and that opens up a new world view to both Eugenie and Genevieve. A beautifully crafted story about what happened to independent women in what sometimes feels like the distant past and at other times feels very much in the present.

It's been awhile since I picked up a historical fiction novel, so I'm glad this is the one I chose! Mas weaves an impeccably fascinating web of characters within the halls of Paris' insane asylum for women. The book highlights the horrors women in these asylums were subjected to, both from men and from other women, but also introduced the aspect of safety offered by the asylum in a world where men posed endless threats to women. These duel views greatly intrigued me, as the idea that an insane asylum could possibly become a safe haven for certain women against the world outside had never occurred to me before. Overall, I enjoyed the ambiance of the novel, the characters intrigued me and the addition of the paranormal made it a wonderful read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Overlook Press for my copy of The Mad Woman’s Ball by Victoria Mas in exchange for an honest review. It publishes September 7, 2021.
This book is translated and I felt like a lot was lost in the translation. I think a lot of this book stems from the beauty of the words, and from French to English may just not provide the meat that was originally there.
The story itself is interesting, although I would’ve loved some more insight into the characters, I was very interested and wanted more! Although perhaps that was on purpose, to leave one waiting.

Review to come. Thanks to Kimberly Lew and Abrams books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication date September 7, 2021
#TheMadWomensBall #Netgalley

I really enjoyed The Mad Woman’s Ball. It was a quick read, but the characters wove together well and you could really feel the emotion and complexity of the women in the novel.

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars. Interesting story about women being committed to mental institutions for having opinions or showing emotion. Highly recommend.

A fascinating, beautifully written historical novel based on fact. Set in a Paris asylum in 1885, I couldn't put this down.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was a fascinating glimpse into a specific place and time in history, and provided much food for thought on the subjects of feminism, sanity, independence, spiritualism, and courage. I expect it will be popular, and I will definitely be recommending it.

A Dark, harrowing period of time for French women. The idea that you could be locked away for awful things that happen to you, or because you dared to show emotion, wow!

This is a suspenseful look at a woman of intelligence who can see spirits who gets locked away in the Salpetriere and the long time Matron whose own demons are tightly guarded but become unraveled by Eugenie. Everything she has believed in, from the charismatic doctor who runs the place, to the superiority of science, is questioned during her first interaction with Eugenie who can see the spirits of the dead.

Beautifully written characters and descriptions, bring this period of time alive for the reader. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Ah I wanted so much more from this book! Nothing was pushed far enough. I wanted the stakes to be much much higher. It felt like a first draft that really needed someone to give it a real kicking. Everything was a bit too easy. Shame because it's such a great premise.

The last few books I've read made me realize that if I'd lived in past times, I'd probably be hanged as a witch or locked up in an insane asylum. The Madwomen's Ball is one of those books.

The book made me so grateful that it is okay to be weird today.

This is a historical fiction and ghost story based on a real insane asylum for women and it's annual ball where the women were displayed like a carnival sideshow. Some of the women were mentally ill, but many were there because their families wanted to rid themselves of opinionated women and girls. Others had epilepsy so families hid them away. Most of the women and girls were never released.

At this Paris asylum the only thing most had to look forward to was the annual Lenten Ball, also known as "The Mad Women's Ball." Even though they looked forward to it, the attendees from the outside world came hoping to see a freak show.

Although it's a story about a young woman who sees spirits, the book is really about the nurse who, after studying medicine and working at the hospital for 20 years, discovers that she is no more respected by the doctors than are the inmates. It's really a journey of discovery by the 50-year-old nurse. All in all, the inmates are the appealing characters and the doctors are horrific.

It's okay to be different now. It's okay. It really is. Go for it.

An intriguing book. Thanks to Netgalley, the author Victoria Mas, and The Overlook Press for allowing me to read and review this ebook.

The Mad Women’s Ball is a dark, captivating and utterly original work of gothic-tinged historical fiction set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Paris. Every year, in mid-Lent, a very strange Bal des Folles is held. For an evening, the Tout-Paris slips on to waltz and polka tunes in the company of women disguised as columbines, gypsies, zouaves and other musketeers. Spread over two rooms - on one side the idiots and the epileptics; on the other hand the hysterics, the mad and the maniacs - this ball is actually one of the last experiments of Charcot, eager to make sick of the Salpêtrière women like the others. Among them, Eugenie, Louise and Geneviève, of which Victoria Mas retraces the course in this absorbing novel and strikes bare the female condition in the nineteenth century.

This is a beguiling, wholly unique and beautifully written piece of historical fact meets fiction and a powerful, cinematic and engaging thriller about the injustice that these women faced during that time. Set against the backdrop of major societal and historical development and change all of which are vividly portrayed and you find yourself rooting for the strong protagonists whose only wish is to be set free. The ball is fascinating but also a strange and quite perverse event meant to entertain Parisian socialites. With lustrous, rich description, a reflection of 19th century aesthetic, the tone of the story weaves together thriller, history and mystery in a truly refreshing, atmospheric and riveting manner. Highly recommended.

Read if you: Want a short gem of a read; if you love historical fiction, but have read one too many epics with unwieldy plots, try this one!

Writing a well-crafted short novel can be just as hard (perhaps harder? I'm not a writer!) as writing a well-crafted epic. Every character decision and plot development must be carefully brought together so that the reader doesn't feel like anything was slighted. You can definitely read this in one sitting--but you will think about it long after you finish it.

Librarians/booksellers: Movie rights have already been optioned by Amazon, so patrons/customers will definitely be interested.

Many thanks to Abrams and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

" The proudest minds do not appreciate being contradicted - especially by a woman. "

Set in 1885, Paris this story is about the women who are considered unwanted and mad by the Parisian society when in reality they are simply women who are different from what the society deems them to be. Unwanted wives who fought against their husbands, daughters who want to have respect for themselves or woman who have lost something precious. These women are sent to the Salpetriere Asylum where they are kept as objects of experiments and science analogies by Dr. Charcot who has all of Paris enthralled by his hypnotism and claims of treating these mad women by science.
When one day, a bourgeois daughter, Eugiene gets locked up in the asylum, Genevie the senior nurse who had firm belief in science and Dr. Charcot begins to doubt everything she believed to be true. Eugiene can see spirits and inspired by one of the banned books in Paris, she is determined to escape the asylum and The Mad Women's Ball which is the highlight of the year comes as a rescue plan but for completing this escape, she needs Genevieve's help.
.This book was a very different one from what I generally read but it was so interesting and gripping that I couldn't stop reading it.This book talked about certain important issues and I was so angry while reading it as to how can women who merely want respect be deemed as hysterical and mad. The women were treated as mere objects used for experimentation but how a girl determined to make a place for herself and full of self confidence escapes this place and keeps herself sane in this world of allegedly insane women. Reading about Eugiene and other women who simply do not accept the patriarchal society and believe in themselves was really good to read.
The world building was so good, each character, the switch in timelines and the overall setting are sure to make you fall in love with this book. And if that isn't enough, just look at the stunning cover.

I just reviewed The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas. #TheMadWomensBall #NetGalley

Really enjoyed this book! It was the first one for me to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters stick with you long after the book is over.