Review of The Madwomen of Paris

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We’ve all heard of asylums in Europe during the 19th and ealry 20th century, but did you know that there was an “outbreak” of hysteria in Paris in the mid-19th century that brought Dr. Jean-Mare Charcot to the height of popularity by taking over the head position of Salpetriere, an asylum for women. Hysteria was the catch all for any number of conditions we recognize today including plain stress, but it was an easy out for those who wanted to get rid of irritating wives, mothers, daughters, or servants. They were admitted and then “treated”. Treatment usually involved what we would call torture or unethical experiments. It was a very dark moment for women and did not help in the understanding of many conditions even in today’s world.

This story is told through the eyes of one former patient. She has become an employee of the asylum after being “cured”. As she sees these women being forgotten by the world, she begins to keep a journal to tell their stories so they won’t be lost forever. During her time, she encounters a new patient who changes her world and her perception of the world around her. She takes the reader into a dark and torturous…