‘The Strange Case of Madeleine Seguin’

‘THE STRANGE CASE OF MADELEINE SEGUIN’

WILLIAM ROSE

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THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION; A NOVEL WITH THEMES OF ART, PSYCHOLOGY, HISTORY AND THE OCCULT. SYMBOLIST ART AND ARTISTS FEATURE STRONGLY

The Strange Case of Madeleine Seguin by Wlliam Rose is a work of fiction; a novel that contains themes of art, psychology, history and the occult. Symbolist Art and artists are strongly featured. It is published by Aeon Books as a paperback or E-book.

It is set in Paris in the 1880s and the century is in its final decadent throes as it moves towards the fin de siecle. New scientific ideas are countered by a resurgent interest in the practice of magic, whilst in the arts the Symbolists are exploring the strangeness of dream and the imagination.In the Salpêtrière Hospital, hundreds of female patients are suffering from the curious malady of ‘hysteria’. Many of these are being treated by hypnosis under the regime of the celebrated and charismatic Professor J-M. Charcot. One such patient is Madeleine Seguin, a young woman whose past is a mystery and who evokes a fascination and possessiveness in those who come close to her.

As well as the doctors Madeleine will encounter a young Symbolist artist, a Catholic priest, a powerful aristocrat, and most dangerously, those practising the darkest aspects of the occult, each of whom will try to save or corrupt her. She must survive them all if she is to shape her own destiny.

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The Journal of Art in Society said in their review:

‘This exceptionally well-written book is both informative and entertaining, and becomes progressively more suspenseful as Madeleine’s fate starts increasingly to hang in the balance. The ending is surprising, and satisfying. Warmly recommended’

For their full review click here Journal of Art in Society

The contemporary symbolist artist Sean Jefferson wrote:

“By documenting the case of the young, charismatic Madeleine Seguin, patient at the Saltpêtrière mental asylum, Rose brilliantly evokes the atmosphere of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century. This was a period when new scientific ideas competed and mingled with religious and primitive, dangerous superstition. Rose cleverly develops characters who are steeped variously in Roman Catholicism, Symbolist aesthetics, early scientific psychiatry and Satanic cultism. Seminal characters of the time are also convincingly brought to life including Charcot, Mallarmé, and the sinister artist Félicien Rops.
This novel is a great read for anyone interested in the roots of Symbolism, capturing not only the society from which it grew but also being a work of Symbolist art in its own right.”

The William Rose Website can be found at : Website for the author William Rose