MADAME SOSOSTRIS & THE FESTIVAL FOR THE BROKEN-HEARTED

196pp., hardback, d.w, Head of Zeus, London, 2025

ISBN: 9781035910755

On the 20th anniversary of the day her first husband left her, Viv decides to host a Festival for the Broken-Hearted in a sacred wood in the South of France. In fancy dress, the partygoers all await the famous clairvoyant and fortune-teller Madame Sosostris, whom they hope might mend their broken lives.

"... whimsical tale of transformation…magic is essential, and Okri can spin it.” The Guardian

“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

Nigerian author, playwright and poet Ben Okri's works have won numerous awards, including the 1991 Booker Prize for Fiction for Famished Road. His more recent books include the eco-fable Every Leaf a Hallelujah, the play Changing Destiny, the climate fiction Tiger Work, the poetry collections A Fire in My Head 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. Ben Okri lives in London.