The Mad Women's Ball: A Novel

The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas is a dark, atmospheric historical novel set inside Paris’s Salpêtrière Asylum in 1885. Women considered troublesome, inconvenient, or socially unacceptable are confined there and displayed during Dr. Charcot’s public demonstrations of hypnotism.

Geneviève, a senior nurse devoted to science and reason, has placed her trust in Charcot and the institution. Her beliefs begin to change when she meets Eugénie, a nineteen-year-old woman committed by her wealthy family after revealing that she can communicate with spirits.

As the asylum prepares for its annual Lenten ball, where fashionable Parisian society gathers to observe the patients, Eugénie becomes determined to escape. Exploring injustice, grief, spiritualism, female friendship, and the treatment of women, this compelling novel is an excellent choice for readers of Gothic fiction, feminist historical fiction, and stories inspired by real institutions.

Translated from French by Frank Wynne

Paperback, Very Good. Front cover has a crease near the spine