The Mad Women’s Ball – Victoria Mas

Description

A literary historical novel detailing the horrors faced by institutionalized women in 19th century Paris—soon to be a major film

The Salpetriere 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 — for 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 Salpetriere dressed up in their finery for one night only. For the women themselves, it is a rare moment of hope.

Genevieve 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 his new science. But everything begins to change when she meets new patient Eugénie, the 19-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family that has locked her away in the asylum. Because Eugenie has a secret and she needs Geneviève’s help. Their fates will collide on the night of the Mad Women’s Ball…

About the Author

Victoria Mas was born in 1987. The Mad Women’s Ball, her first novel, has won several prizes in France (including the Prix Stanislas and Prix Renaudot des Lycéens) and been hailed as the bestselling debut of the season. She has worked in film in the United States, where she lived for eight years. She graduated from the Sorbonne University in Contemporary Literature.