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A review by giseleesau
The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas
2.0
This book's subject matter had so much potential !!! but did not live up to its expectations unfortunately.
The setting of the Salpêtrière Asylum in Paris is so so so interesting, as are the stories of the women within it, especially in light of gendered, medical mis-diagnosis'.
Unfortunately this book slightlyyyyy (and by slightly I mean completely oops) missed the mark when Mas made the decision for the protagonist to start seeing dead people (?), meaning that, unfortunately, I could simply defend her sanity no longer. Like how are you going to write a book about how men perceive women as crazy simply because they don't follow patriarchal norms and then have the main character see the deceased??? Literally what. Surely it also just completely diminishes the horrific experiences and impressive endurance of the other Salpêtrière women when she (probably the only rightly committed one) was helped to escape the asylum.
The only redeemable feature of this book was the exploration of the power of female solidarity and how critical this is in the dismantlement of the patriarchy.
The setting of the Salpêtrière Asylum in Paris is so so so interesting, as are the stories of the women within it, especially in light of gendered, medical mis-diagnosis'.
Unfortunately this book slightlyyyyy (and by slightly I mean completely oops) missed the mark when Mas made the decision for the protagonist to start seeing dead people (?), meaning that, unfortunately, I could simply defend her sanity no longer. Like how are you going to write a book about how men perceive women as crazy simply because they don't follow patriarchal norms and then have the main character see the deceased??? Literally what. Surely it also just completely diminishes the horrific experiences and impressive endurance of the other Salpêtrière women when she (probably the only rightly committed one) was helped to escape the asylum.
The only redeemable feature of this book was the exploration of the power of female solidarity and how critical this is in the dismantlement of the patriarchy.