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Summary
“The Salpêtrière 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—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 Mad Women’s Ball—when the great and good come to gawk at the patients of the Salpêtrière 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 science. But everything begins to change when she meets Eugénie, the 19-year-old daughter of a bourgeois family that has locked her away in the asylum. Because Eugénie has a secret: she sees spirits. Inspired by the scandalous, banned work that all of Paris is talking about, The Book of Spirits, Eugénie is determined to escape from the asylum—and the bonds of her gender—and seek out those who will believe in her. And for that she will need Genevieve’s help . . .”
-From Amazon.com
Review
This was yet another book from my book club that I probably never would have picked up on my own. This was for our theme of “A Book Translated into English” and this was our choice – a book from French to English. And wow am I so glad that I gave it a read. I truly enjoyed this book and it was a quick read too with it being completed in about 2-3 hours, so you know it’s good when that happens. I just curled up and devoured it.
Infuriatingly Interesting – Really Men?!
This book really displayed the power that men had during the 1800s and the fear that they had of powerful women. Men, and particularly fathers and husbands of women could just lock a woman up in a asylum for anything – hysterics, murder, seeing things, just because they didn’t fit the mold. It was so infuriating to see the treatment of Eugénie and the fact that because she saw spirits her father turned against her and quite literally threw her away. It was just so painful to read that she went from being this relatively beloved daughter to being completely disowned. And seeing the treatment of Genevieve and the general disregard of her after a particular turn of events….ooo man my blood was boiling.
And then you just have the treatment of the women while in the asylum – paraded around like animals in a zoo. They were presented and studied, and photographs taken of them and posted in the newspapers. It was just such a look into life that people forget about. While the book is fiction it is historically accurate with those details.
A Look into Asylums
While there was the whole terrible side of the treatment of women by men like they were property, you did get to see a kind of safety that the asylum did provide – whether that be through a false sense of safety/Stockholm kind of syndrome or true safety. You read about women who maybe were a little bit clinically insane loving the world that was the asylum because of the safety that it provided and the little world that they had been able to create for themselves.
Seeing the more open minded Eugénie come in with a very progressive mindset into there and almost turning the place on its head in a way was just very interesting to see. The shake up she caused internally, even though not terribly massive, really did cause some big waves.
A Stark Reminder in Modern Times
No to get political, but these kind of books during modern times are always a reminder of what was and what could possibly be again! A time when men had all the power over society and over women – a time that is scarily becoming more and more a reality in many places both in the United States as well as around the world. I honestly found it a little stressful to read all of this because of that. I felt like it was hitting a little to close to home and I felt a deep seeded annoyance. The portrayal of this world really makes you think and also be grateful for all the strides that the Women’s Rights movement made for women all over.
But overall, this was a 5/5 teacup book for me! It was well written (any writing style issues I chalked up to translation issues which always happen), a really interesting and captivating story and emotionally thought provoking. I wished by the end of it that there was more – like maybe it was a bigger book with more for me to read! That’s how you know a book is good – when you feel satisfied with the story but just wish there was more because you don’t want it to be over.
If you’ve read this book, what did you think?
Also there is a French movie adaptation of this book which I will absolutely be checking out soon!
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