Overview

The Salp�tri�re Asylum: Paris, 1885 Dr. Charcot holds all of Paris in thrall with his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad and cast out from society. But the truth is much more complicated--these women are often simply inconvenient, unwanted wives, those who have lost something precious, wayward daughters, or girls born from adulterous relationships. For Parisian society, the highlight of the year is the Lenten ball--the Madwomen's Ball--when the great and good come to gawk at the patients of the Salp�tri�re dressed up in their finery for one night only. For the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope. Genevi�ve is a senior nurse. After the childhood death of her sister Blandine, she shunned religion and placed her faith in both the celebrated psychiatrist Dr. Charcot and science. But everything begins to change when she meets Eug�nie, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family that has locked her away in the asylum. It is because Eug�nie has a secret: she sees spirits. Inspired by the scandalous, banned work that all of Paris is talking about, The Book of Spirits, Eug�nie is determined to escape from the asylum--and the bonds of her gender--and seek out those who will believe in her. And for that she will need Genevi�ve's help.

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Reviews

The Mad Women's Ball is a darkly sumptuous tale of wicked spectacle, wild injustice, and the insuppressible strength of women...as moving as it is macabre. -- Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters [A] darkly delightful Gothic treasure. -- Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author [A] deeply humane, well-researched thriller...short but powerful. -- Criminal Element A cri de coeur against the condition of women in this world. -- Marie France Electrifying...a magnetic historical novel. -- Foreword (starred review) Elegantly blends feminist history and spiritualism and poignantly demonstrates how the hospital is both prison and refuge for its residents. -- Publishers Weekly Enter the danse of this little masterpiece and let yourself be dazzled. -- The Parisian Essential reading. -- Cosmopolitan (France) Highlights the plight of powerless women...[when] the burgeoning sciences of psychiatry and neurology exist uneasily alongside spiritualism. -- Booklist Potent and wicked...a darkly entertaining piece of revisionist feminism. -- Chicago Review of Books

"The Mad Women's Ball is a darkly sumptuous tale of wicked spectacle, wild injustice, and the insuppressible strength of women...as moving as it is macabre. -- ""Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters"" [A] darkly delightful Gothic treasure. -- ""Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author"" [A] deeply humane, well-researched thriller...short but powerful. -- ""Criminal Element"" A cri de coeur against the condition of women in this world. -- ""Marie France"" Electrifying...a magnetic historical novel. -- ""Foreword (starred review)"" Elegantly blends feminist history and spiritualism and poignantly demonstrates how the hospital is both prison and refuge for its residents. -- ""Publishers Weekly"" Enter the danse of this little masterpiece and let yourself be dazzled. -- ""The Parisian"" Essential reading. -- ""Cosmopolitan (France)"" Highlights the plight of powerless women...[when] the burgeoning sciences of psychiatry and neurology exist uneasily alongside spiritualism. -- ""Booklist"" Potent and wicked...a darkly entertaining piece of revisionist feminism. -- ""Chicago Review of Books"""

Author Information

Victoria Mas has a master's degree in contemporary literature from the Sorbonne. The Mad Women's Ball, her first novel, is the winner of numerous prizes, including the Prix Stanislas and Prix Renaudot des Lyc�ens. It has sold more than 175,000 copies in France, with rights sold in twenty-two languages, and it is the basis for the film Le Bal des folles, directed by M�lanie Laurent. Victoria Mas worked in the film industry in the United States, where she lived for eight years, and currently lives in France. Kristin Atherton is a voice talent and audiobook narrator. Frank Wynne has translated works by Michel Houellebecq, Boualem Sansal, and many more writers. He won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2005 for his translation of Fr�d�ric Beigbeder's Windows on the World.

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