Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Mad Women's Ball

The writing, while insightful in many sections, focuses mostly on telling rather than showing. For many passages, the passage directly stated Mas’ thesis, pushing forward a firm theme rather than allowing the reader to come to conclusions on their own. This did make the book extremely accessible and a much quicker read.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

The characters felt real enough, and yet also rather flat in comparison to the content matter. Where I hoped to find depth, I was met with surface-level characters who occasionally displayed features that dipped below the surface. That being said, the characters were relatively intriguing and, since the story was short, they kept interest for the course of the novel.

Plot: 3⭐️/5

The concept of the plot is incredibly interesting but the execution fell a bit flat. While still enjoyable and interesting, both the main plot and the side plots left me wanting more.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those looking for an introduction to historical fiction
Those wanting to learn more about Salpêtrière

Content Warnings?

Misogyny, sexism, classism, death of a parent, death, illness, toxic relationships, toxic friendships,

Post-Reading Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

Left me wanting more.

Final Rating: 3.0⭐️/5

Content Warnings

yum1_2's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Content Warnings

foxonabook's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

CAWPILE Rating
Characters: 5 | Atmosphere: 4.5 | Writing: 4 | Plot: 4 | Intrigue: 3.5 | Logic: 5 | Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rating: 4.43/10 | Star Rating: 2.5/5

I should start off by saying that the book is definitely readable and at 224 pages, it’s quick to get through. I also think Mas is good at worldbuilding. However, I think the book’s length holds it back from being a good book since Mas is covering so much in very few pages.

The story starts with Louise, a young woman susceptible to ‘fits’ following a traumatic incident three years earlier. She is regularly featured in Dr Charcot‘s weekly lectures and believes that she will soon be more famous than Augustine, Charcot’s previous demonstration subject who successfully escaped from the Salpêtrière. We then meet Eugénie, the daughter of a bourgeois lawyer who admits her into the care of the hospital when he finds out that Eugénie claims to be able to see and interacts with spirits. Lastly, there’s Geneviève, the ward supervisor who admires Charcot’s vision and talent.

There are a lot of protagonists for the reader to get to know and I would have liked to have learned more about them than what’s immediately relevant to the story. I don’t think the story would have been better had Mas only chosen one protagonist to centre the book around, but I would have liked for them to be more nuanced and complex. I thought that the secondary characters were even more noticeably one-dimensional as well as forgettable. Secondary characters often serve to provide insight into the main character(s) or to further a plot along, otherwise, why would an author bother to include them? In this case, their plot device status was blatant since every secondary character lacked any depth.

It’s not just the characters’ portrayal that I was disappointed with; I thought the plot and the ending were rushed and somewhat incomplete, too. The majority of the book’s events take place in the run-up to the ball that the title alludes to, with repeated reminders throughout about how important it is to the women living at the Salpêtrière and how intriguing it is to the elite, hand-picked guests. The ball itself doesn’t take place until the very end, at which point the entire scene is over as quickly as it began (I would like to include the actual page length, but since I read the ebook, I can’t 🥲). This really disappointed me since I would have liked to have spent more time with the women at the ball before the final events unfolded and seen the interactions between the in-patients and the members of the elite.

The combination of too many characters and a rushed plot meant that I, as the reader, couldn’t really appreciate the themes that Mas wanted to explore in the book.

I enjoyed that the book looked at the stigma surrounding mental health and the injustices and barriers women faced in the late 19th century, I just wish we got more (you’ll notice this might be a recurring desire in this review). For example, Eugènie is admitted to the Salpêtrière after she confesses to her grandmother that she is able to see and hear spirits. The events leading up to Eugènie’s confession involve her learning about and reading Le Livre des Esprits, but beyond that, there is very little explored or shared about Spiritism or the people who were involved in the movement.

Then there’s the history of psychiatry. Although undeniably dark and gruesome, this could have also been better explored in the book, especially since Mas references the very real people who were involved in this field of science at the time that the book takes place. We get very little insight into Dr Charcot’s work, and it frustrated me that Mas used him as one of the targets of her diatribe against the patriarchal society and all the ways in which women suffer as a result. Charcot and his associates are relegated to the underdeveloped villains of the story (and, with hindsight, all of the male characters, bar one, are either the villains or antiheroes…). A quick 5-minute research reveals just how important and lasting Charcot’s influence on modern-day psychology and neuroscience is. He wasn’t a faultless man, and I would encourage you to read about the debate regarding his influence on the development of anti-semitism too, but it’s a disservice to the man’s legacy as well as the reader to provide such an unnuanced and scaled-down account of his work.

Speaking of being unfair to the reader – and my biggest bug-bear about this book – Mas’ decision to spell everything out does not leave any room for tension to build or for the reader to interpret a character’s motives for themselves. Whenever a character thinks, does, or even considers doing something, Mas explicitly explains their thought processes and beliefs. Mas also takes it one step further by explaining to the reader why something is good or bad, or how things are connected or impacted by other events or decisions. For example, the reader quickly picks up that Louise didn’t feel comfortable being touched by her paramour, but the intrigue that was created was quickly destroyed in the following paragraph when Mas laid out exactly why Louise was uncomfortable including a lot of info-dumping on when, why, and how she ended up at the Salpêtrière, information that would have been better slowly revealed throughout the story.

I think the book as it is now is a strong basis for a more developed book. I genuinely do wonder, had Mas been encouraged to extend the book by a couple of hundred pages, would the characters and plot have been better developed? I also wonder if there would have been more subtle, nuanced showing throughout the book since Mas would have had the space and time to do so.

There’s no point in speculating on the ‘what ifs’. I really wanted to like this book, but by the end, I was rushing through the last few chapters so I could move on to the next book. I’m not sure if I’ll read another of Mas’ books again, but I do think that she’s written a good book for film so I will still watch the movie adaptation (and perhaps watch any future adaptations of her books).

I’m going to end this review with a quote from the book that I found ironic at the time considering the book’s mixed textbook and fiction style of writing:

Therein lay the difference between fact and fiction: in the former, there was no possible emotional investment. One was simply presented with information. Fiction, on the other hand, aroused passions, provoked outbursts, overwhlemed the mind.

Content Warnings

rhia_williams's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

Content Warnings

words_and_dreams's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'Within these walls, as they wait to be seen by a doctor, time is the worst of enemies. It gives free reign to supressed thoughts, rouses memories, induces fear, stirs up regrets- and not knowing whether this time will ever come to an end, they fear it more than they fear their ailments.'

Eugenie, who sees the dead is sent to the asylum by her Father after being betrayed by her Grandmother. Genevieve, the matron/senior nurse at the asylum believes in science, order and Dr Charcot. She is stern and disciplined and cares for her patients without sentimentality.

We see how the mentally ill women are treated, misunderstood and put on display like exhibits. Men abusing their power and postition whether that is a dr or a father.

The cold figure of Genevieve ends up being the savior whilst the 'loving' maternal Grandmother is the betrayer. I like how it explored discovering yourself and your beliefs despite thinking everything is already set in stone through Genevieve. She represents growth. Theophile, Eugenies brother represents the next generation of men who could do better, hope for the future.

We also get to meet some of the other inmates who are equally heartbreaking, especially Louise and Therese.

It was a little on the nose at times but I really enjoyed it and found it both emotional, heartbreaking and gripping.

Content Warnings