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Thursday, September 16, 2021

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

Throughout history, men have used many ways to remove difficult or embarrassing wives and daughters.  Women who, for one reason or another have proven troublesome (for husbands, fathers, or brothers) have often found themselves relegated to asylums.  Whether because of mental illness, refusal to stay in their place, adultery (of either partner), or financial incentives--asylums have provided ways to remove inconvenient women.  

In 1885 in Paris, Eugenie, a young woman in a controlling, patriarchal household, reveals to her grandmother that she "sees dead people."  As a result, she ends up in the Salpetriere Asylum.  Eugenie was already problematic for occasionally taunting her father, and he takes the opportunity to relieve himself of her presence.

The asylum under Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot was in much better shape than it had been previously, and Charcot made many advancements in science, but "Charcot had come to believe that susceptibility to hypnosis was an indicator of latent hysteria. He based this belief on the fact that hysterical symptoms could be reproduced by hypnotic suggestions (Fancher, 1985, p. 54)." (source)

Women in the Salpetriere Asylum range from those who suffer from epilepsy, dementia, "hysteria", sexual trauma, and in Eugenie's case the insanity of seeing spirits.  But Eugenie is not insane, and soon enough, Genevieve, the head nurse has to deal with this particular problem.  

The book is short and well-researched, and I found it intriguing in its rather unusual approach.  The inclusion of spiritualism, family dynamics, and the names of Charcot's famous students were sometimes at odds.  Medical science, especially in the area of mental health, has undergone remarkable and often cruel trends and so have cultural norms.  Women are much better off today--they can vote, get divorced, retain custody of their children, work outside the home, etc.  And yet...women are still expected to meet some of the social norms of a century ago, don't trust that reporting abuse will be taken seriously, and are called hysterical if they respond in a manner accepted as OK for men.  

Women Who Defied Gender Roles Were Once Imprisoned in Asylums

Restoring Perspective: Life and Treatment at the London Asylum

Women's Admission to Asylums in United States of America

It was difficult to find accounts of the Le Bal des Folles at the Salpetriere Asylum because almost everything led back to the novel and the upcoming film, but I finally found this.   

NetGalley/Abrams Books

Historical fiction.  Sept. 7, 2021.  Print length:  224 pages.

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review of this unusual story and for the links

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    1. It is an unusual and very interesting book. Both Genevieve and Eugenie are interesting characters. Fiction and fact blend in the novel.

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  2. Thank you! The title goes to the top of my reading list. Great review on a subject that is apt today for mental illness.

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    1. I enjoyed the book and then looking up more about Charcot and his influence on so many early students of psychology--William James, Alfred Binet, and Freud.

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  3. This sounds like a very compelling and important read. Thank you for sharing! :)

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    1. You can't help but root for Eugenie, but the "seeing dead people" makes for an odd twist to the novel. I imagine the film will be fascinating, especially as the women prepare for the annual Le Bal des Folles!

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  4. "Hysteria" covered a lot of ground back in the day. Humans haven't "evolved" nearly as quickly or as far as we would like to believe.

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    1. Hysteria as a diagnosis did, indeed, cover a lot of ground! In a way, using hypnosis was an improvement in treatments.

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  5. I looked Charcot up and he does indeed sound like a very interesting and influential individual, one that I had never heard of. This novelistic treatment of his work and the character of Eugenie sound quite fascinating.

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    1. Considering Charcot's influence, it is surprising that his name isn't more familiar. In the novel, his appearance is almost a cameo, and yet he looms because Genevieve so admires him.

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  6. I hope this one wasn't too depressing. It does sound unique.

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    1. Despite the patriarchal aspect that dominates the period and the elementary (and often mistaken) beginnings of psychology/psychiatry, not all of the women committed to the asylum are eager to leave. For some of the women, the asylum is a safe haven. Victoria Mas manages to incorporate so many threads of a patriarchal culture, the early attempts to understand mental illness, and the unique stories of Eugenie, who is sane, but different, and Genevieve, who finds her previous world view altered. Certain aspects are depressing, but the plot itself has a more positive outcome.

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  7. Wow. This sounds like a really good book. I am always sad to hear about women who have been shuffled off to get them out of the way in the past.

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    1. Even worse is when sane women are confined with patients who suffer from a variety of mental illnesses. At least the Salpetriere Asylum was an improvement over many other asylums of the time.

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  8. It's hard to believe that this happened to women so often right? I've read several novels about women being sent off to an asylum because of hysteria when it was just the husband was usually tired of them and had his eye on someone else. And, it's just so sad how mental illness is often misunderstood. I have an ARC of this one and am eager to read it.

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    1. Yes, I've read novels of women being sent to asylums before, too. Well, into the 20th c., treatments were often worse than those in earlier asylums. Horrifying accounts of "treatments" like lobotomies and electroshock "therapy."

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  9. The Mad Women's Ball sounds like something I would be interested in. I will have to look up Charcot as I'm curious about him. I don't recall his name coming up during my university studies, but I imagine the name must have come up at some point, even if in passing. The book itself sounds good and I am glad you liked it, Jenclair. I can see myself getting mad as I read--I always seem to when I read about how women were treated over that time span.

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    1. When we read about William James or Freud, the mention of Charcot is probably like a footnote, but his influence was well acknowledged at the time. I found it interesting because I wasn't at all familiar with his work, either. The names of his students are well known worldwide, but Charcot is mostly known in France.

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  10. Sounds like a good read, though the topic is a depressing one. That said, I feel it's an important read as I feel women (no matter if it's today or the past) are often wrongly judged and misunderstood.

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    1. The book fascinating because, in spite of everything, it isn't as depressing as you may think. The thing that is most upsetting is the male control over women--whether family members or doctors. You are right, whether in the past or present, women are often not treated equally, and it is frustratingly unfair.

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