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Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted
Bloomsbury presents Madame Sosostris & The Festival for the Broken-Hearted by Ben Okri, read by Phyllida Nash.
What do you do when your heart has been made a wasteland by love?
Viv, who’s in the House of Lords, had the idea for the festival on the twentieth anniversary of the day her first husband left her. Six months later, crowds descend on the grounds of a dreamlike chateau in the South of France, avidly awaiting the experience of a lifetime, Viv’s inaugural Festival for the Broken-Hearted.
Everyone is in fancy dress. No one knows who anyone is. They wander the beautiful woods with just one night to change everything. And to crown it all, a very special guest is world-renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller Madame Sosostris, known as the wisest woman in Europe, and not seen since the pages of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. She will attend for one night only.
But will she actually appear at all, or will Viv’s carefully orchestrated festival fall to pieces? Will Viv and her husband make it through the night? Will anyone else?
Part vision, part mystery, this story of a midsummer night’s madness is also an homage to Eliot's famous poem, in Ben Okri’s inimitable style, as alive with echoes and reverberations as the enchanted forest itself. Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare, with a dash of Mozart.
Hearts will be healed, and hearts broken, but nobody will leave this festival exactly as they arrived.
What do you do when your heart has been made a wasteland by love?
Viv, who’s in the House of Lords, had the idea for the festival on the twentieth anniversary of the day her first husband left her. Six months later, crowds descend on the grounds of a dreamlike chateau in the South of France, avidly awaiting the experience of a lifetime, Viv’s inaugural Festival for the Broken-Hearted.
Everyone is in fancy dress. No one knows who anyone is. They wander the beautiful woods with just one night to change everything. And to crown it all, a very special guest is world-renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller Madame Sosostris, known as the wisest woman in Europe, and not seen since the pages of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. She will attend for one night only.
But will she actually appear at all, or will Viv’s carefully orchestrated festival fall to pieces? Will Viv and her husband make it through the night? Will anyone else?
Part vision, part mystery, this story of a midsummer night’s madness is also an homage to Eliot's famous poem, in Ben Okri’s inimitable style, as alive with echoes and reverberations as the enchanted forest itself. Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare, with a dash of Mozart.
Hearts will be healed, and hearts broken, but nobody will leave this festival exactly as they arrived.
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Published March 13, 2025
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About the author
Ben Okri
86 books990 followersPoet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He grew up in London before returning to Nigeria with his family in 1968. Much of his early fiction explores the political violence that he witnessed at first hand during the civil war in Nigeria. He left the country when a grant from the Nigerian government enabled him to read Comparative Literature at Essex University in England.
He was poetry editor for West Africa magazine between 1983 and 1986 and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. He was appointed Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College Cambridge in 1991, a post he held until 1993. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1987, and was awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Westminster (1997) and Essex (2002).
His first two novels, Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981), are both set in Nigeria and feature as central characters two young men struggling to make sense of the disintegration and chaos happening in both their family and country. The two collections of stories that followed, Incidents at the Shrine (1986) and Stars of the New Curfew (1988), are set in Lagos and London.
In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued in Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998). Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007).
A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. A collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, was published in 1997. Ben Okri is also the author of a play, In Exilus.
In his latest book, Tales of Freedom (2009), Okri brings together poetry and story.
Ben Okri is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. He lives in London.
He was poetry editor for West Africa magazine between 1983 and 1986 and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. He was appointed Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College Cambridge in 1991, a post he held until 1993. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1987, and was awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Westminster (1997) and Essex (2002).
His first two novels, Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981), are both set in Nigeria and feature as central characters two young men struggling to make sense of the disintegration and chaos happening in both their family and country. The two collections of stories that followed, Incidents at the Shrine (1986) and Stars of the New Curfew (1988), are set in Lagos and London.
In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued in Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998). Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007).
A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. A collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, was published in 1997. Ben Okri is also the author of a play, In Exilus.
In his latest book, Tales of Freedom (2009), Okri brings together poetry and story.
Ben Okri is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 30, 2025
Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted has such a compelling premise. a strange, mystical festival where the broken-hearted gather in masks to confront desire, illusion, and truth. There are definitely moments of beauty and atmosphere, and you can feel the mythic, dreamlike tone Okri is going for. The setup had me genuinely excited at first.
But as it went on, I found myself a little bored. The dialogue-heavy, almost theatrical writing style kept me at a distance instead of pulling me deeper into the world. A lot of the conversations felt abstract or symbolic rather than emotional, and I struggled to connect with the characters. The pacing also meanders, so even though the book is short, it felt long in parts.
By the end, I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d missed the point or if the book was intentionally opaque. There were themes I could feel hovering in the background, like identity, heartbreak, transformation but the payoff never fully landed for me. Still, the writing is thoughtful and unique, and I can imagine it resonating more deeply with readers who enjoy allegorical, dreamlike storytelling. For me, it was an “appreciate it, but didn’t love it” kind of read.
But as it went on, I found myself a little bored. The dialogue-heavy, almost theatrical writing style kept me at a distance instead of pulling me deeper into the world. A lot of the conversations felt abstract or symbolic rather than emotional, and I struggled to connect with the characters. The pacing also meanders, so even though the book is short, it felt long in parts.
By the end, I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d missed the point or if the book was intentionally opaque. There were themes I could feel hovering in the background, like identity, heartbreak, transformation but the payoff never fully landed for me. Still, the writing is thoughtful and unique, and I can imagine it resonating more deeply with readers who enjoy allegorical, dreamlike storytelling. For me, it was an “appreciate it, but didn’t love it” kind of read.
October 17, 2025
A charming tale that was impossible to put down. This was my first time reading Ben Okri, but it certainly won't be my last!
I expected more drama and suspense from the plot, but I wasn't at all let down by the outcome. It's a beautiful story about the human condition. We live our lives striving for one thing, only to reach the end of it wishing for another. We throw ourselves into love and let it blind us from what we know deep down to be true. That, intertwined with a magical forest and all its peculiar characters, made up the foundation of the novel. Told, in a way, through the eyes of a fortune teller--who both was and wasn't there.
If you're someone looking for a mix of fiction, social commentary and a new perspective on life, I'd say this is absolutely the story for you! Can't wait to check out his other work.
I expected more drama and suspense from the plot, but I wasn't at all let down by the outcome. It's a beautiful story about the human condition. We live our lives striving for one thing, only to reach the end of it wishing for another. We throw ourselves into love and let it blind us from what we know deep down to be true. That, intertwined with a magical forest and all its peculiar characters, made up the foundation of the novel. Told, in a way, through the eyes of a fortune teller--who both was and wasn't there.
If you're someone looking for a mix of fiction, social commentary and a new perspective on life, I'd say this is absolutely the story for you! Can't wait to check out his other work.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews