Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Brokenhearted - by Ben Okri (Hardcover)

About the Book

"First published in the United Kingdom in 2025 by Head of Zeus, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc"--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

In this modern fable with the impish magic of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a masked ball makes two upper-class British couples see each other in a new light.

A wise, enchanting novel about love, power, and our many selves--past and future, public and private--from the Booker Prize-winning author.

There are organizations for people who grieve, for alcoholics and other kinds of addicts. But if you've been devastated by the love of your life walking out on you, where the hell do you go?

On the 20th anniversary of the day her first husband left her, Viv decides to host an unconventional party for those burned by love. She successfully ropes in her reluctant second husband, Alan, and their friends Beatrice and Stephen, and when she meets the famed fortuneteller Madame Sosostris--last seen in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, and rumored to be the secret to success of 5 prime ministers--she believes she's found the perfect act to headline her masquerade.

In a sacred wood in the south of France, the partygoers disguise themselves and wait eagerly for the great clairvoyant, who might be able to mend their broken pasts and brighten their futures. But the night soon goes awry, in a comically revealing way that causes our couples to question their relationships and the direction of their lives.

Review Quotes

"[A] whimsical tale of transformation...magic is essential, and Okri can spin it." --The Guardian

"An enchanting story of a masked ball...leading to delightfully theatrical twists and a satisfying resolution...Shakespeare lovers should flock to this." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The dialogue here grants a shimmery surface to the allegorical underpinning. It helps, too, that the novel's conundrum couldn't be realer: Can we ever avoid unhappiness? This beautifully written book is riveting in its attempt to answer that question, from first page to last." --Literary Hub, Most Anticipated Books of the Year

"There is certainly much delight to be found in the writing style and Okri's ease with weaving the supernatural into his narrative, as well as in his evocative cultural references." --Times Literary Supplement

"A dizzying masquerade where little is as it appears to be...By combining the fantastical elements of A Midsummer Night's Dream with allusions to T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land, ' Okri creates a world that feels lush while exposing the barren landscapes--both physical and emotional--of modern humanity." --Shelf Awareness

Praise for Ben Okri:

"[Okri's] writing takes on the great riddles of existence--freedom and consciousness, truth and illusion, suffering and transcendence--spinning them into shimmering, allegorical texts...[A]t a time of deep reckoning and crisis...his work feel[s] all the more prescient." --New York Times

"Fiction's master of enchantments stares down a real horror, and without blinking or flinching, produces a work of beauty, grace, and uncommon power." --Marlon James

"Ben Okri is that rare thing, a literary and social visionary, a writer for whom all three--literature, culture, and vision--are profoundly interwoven." --Ali Smith

About the Author

Ben Okri is a playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, short-story writer, anthologist, and aphorist. He has also written film scripts. His works have won numerous national and international prizes, including the Booker Prize for Fiction. His books include the eco-fable Every Leaf a Hallelujah, the play Changing Destiny, the genre-bending climate fiction Tiger Work, the poetry collections A Fire in My Head and Mental Fight, and Wild, and the novels Astonishing the Gods, The Last Gift of the Master Artists, and Dangerous Love. In 2023 he received a knighthood for services to literature.