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Title details for The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein - Available

The Madwomen of Paris

A Novel

by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Kiiri Sandy
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
EDGAR AWARD FINALIST • “Epstein’s page-turning historical novel—an indictment of the medical establishment’s manipulation of women—remains eerily relevant and timely.”—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular

Two women fall under the influence of a powerful doctor in Paris’s notorious nineteenth-century women’s asylum—a gripping novel inspired by true events, from the bestselling author of Wunderland.
After being dragged into the Salpêtrière asylum screaming, covered in blood, and suffering from amnesia, Josephine is diagnosed with what the nineteenth-century Parisian press has dubbed “the epidemic of the age”: hysteria. It’s a disease so uniquely baffling that Jean-Martin Charcot, the Salpêtrière’s acclaimed director, devotes popular lectures to it, using hypnosis to elicit fits and fantastical symptoms in front of rapt audiences. Young, charismatic, and highly susceptible to this entrancement, Josephine quickly becomes a favorite of the powerful doctor and the Parisian public alike. 
But her true ally at the Salpêtrière is Laure, a lonely ward attendant. As their friendship blossoms into something more, the two women find comfort and even joy together despite their bleak surroundings. Soon, Josephine’s memory returns, and with it images of a gruesome crime she’s convinced she’s committed. Ensnared in Charcot’s hypnotic web, she starts spiraling into seeming insanity, prompting a terrified Laure to plot their escape together. First, though, Laure must solve a grim mystery: Who, really, is the girl she’s grown to love? Is Josephine a madwoman . . . or a murderer?
Inspired by true events, expertly researched, and masterfully written, The Madwomen of Paris is a Gothic saga for the ages with themes that remain hauntingly resonant today.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 11, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593668504
      • File size: 368562 KB
      • Duration: 12:47:50

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 19, 2023
      This beautifully crafted historical from Epstein (Wunderland) evokes the cruel and misogynistic mental health system of late 19th-century Paris. After Laure Bissonet’s father dies in debt, his house is seized, leaving Laure without a home. She has a breakdown and lands in the hysteria ward of the Salpêtrière, Paris’s massive asylum for women. She recovers, but lacks the skills necessary for employment beyond the asylum. Laure is earning her room and board by working as a resident ward attendant when a blood-spattered, agitated woman is admitted to the Salpêtrière. Chosen to care for the striking redhead, Laure feels an immediate attraction to Josephine Garreau’s beauty, intelligence, and vulnerability. Josephine soon stars in neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot’s popular public lectures, in which he and his students, including Sigmund Freud, use her outré behavior under hypnosis to bolster Charcot’s theories of female hysteria. As Josephine begins to heal she and Laure grow close, but Laure is skeptical when Josephine claims to have killed her abusive employer just before arriving at the asylum. Gradually, Laure realizes that Charcot’s protocol is damaging her friend’s sanity and that Josephine’s confession of murder may be true. Combining elegant prose, artfully chosen historical details, and convincing characterizations, this haunting narrative showcases Epstein at her best.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The story of Josephine, a young woman who arrives at the Salp�trei�re asylum in Paris to be treated for amnesia and hysteria, is narrated beautifully by Kiiri Sandy. Switching seamlessly from English to French as needed, Sandy gives both Josephine and her attendant, Laure, voices that are distinctly different from the deeper, authoritative speech of Doctor Jean-Martin Charcot. Using hypnosis, Charcot puts Josephine on the stage from which he lectures the public on hysteria, a widespread diagnosis of the time. As Josephine's memory returns, Sandy's narration brings a sense of urgency and suspense that pulls the listener through the compelling story. This satisfying audiobook will please fans of historical fiction, mysteries, and feminist issues. C.F. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Epstein (Wunderland) takes listeners to 18th-century Paris, where a psychological condition known as hysteria has filled institutions with women who receive experimental and often damaging treatment. At the Salp�tri�re women's asylum, world-renowned doctor Jean-Martin Charcot uses hypnosis as a research technique to study the condition. Once a patient, Laure now works as an attendant and has been assigned to work with Josephine, a new patient. Josephine arrived covered in blood and emotionally devastated, though she can't remember what happened to precipitate her appearance at the asylum. Charcot deploys Josephine, who is easily hypnotized, as a subject for his public lectures, where he exploits her using his misguided theories. Josephine continues to suffer, but under Laure's care, her memory returns, and she reveals that she has committed an awful crime. Laure wonders if Josephine's memories are real or if the doctor has damaged her mind irrevocably. Narrator Kiiri Sandy captures Laure's increasing worries for Josephine as she plans an escape for them both. Listeners will appreciate Sandy's facility with languages; she seamlessly delivers the novel's French phrases and words. VERDICT A beautifully written and compelling work for historical fiction fans and those interested in the history of medicine and psychological treatment.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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