Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Brokenhearted by Ben Okri

Do you believe that books come to you when it’s the right time for them? That doesn’t mean that you’re going to read them and immediately connect: and there’s a lot to be said for coming to books like Catcher In The Rye and the more dire works of Anne McCaffrey as an adult, when you can see how godawful the behavior your more adolescent self might have romanticized actually is. But sometimes, your (my) reading queue will bump books around and give you (me, oh fine, us) exactly what we need when we need it.

Which, ofc, is my roundabout way of saying that if I’d read Ben Okri’s wise, compelling Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Brokenhearted earlier in the year, I might not have felt so moved by the insights of this slender book. The tale itself revolves around two pairs of well-off slightly older Britons. Viv is a member of the House of Lords, a compulsive organizer and improver. Her husband Alan is irritable but well-bred, a veritable titan of industry. Her best friend Beatrice is retired from finance and now rivals Viv’s organizational efforts with her own activities on numerous charitable boards. Beatrice’s husband Stephen is a self-made intellectual who runs a newspaper. While the women are great friends, the men don’t particularly get along.

On the twentieth anniversary of her greatest heartbreak, Viv has a revelation while chatting with a stranger at a party. Tho she’s married to Alan happily enough, she’s never really gotten over the pain of her first husband leaving her. Why, she wonders, are there no support groups for people who’ve had their hearts properly broken? A vision of a festival for those who’ve been hurt this way comes to her, but nothing really solidifies until she runs into the famed fortune teller Madame Sosostris during a party at the House of Lords. The clairvoyant agrees to come read fortunes at the woodland festival that Viv wants to organize in the south of France. It’s with some trepidation thus that Viv, Alan, Beatrice and Stephen are pulled into a strange journey that will change their lives forever.

There are definite A Midsummer Night’s Dream vibes to this fable, but Ben Okri neatly sidesteps any cliches of happily ever after with his messy, magical but still oddly realistic depiction of love and healing and heartbreak. Each member of this quartet is forced to step outside of their comfort zone and try on new roles: some rise to the occasion while others fail. Neither success nor failure is considered a value judgment, but does indicate how well suited people are to continue on their journeys together. It’s a nuanced, generous take on love and compatibility that will soothe any heart that grieves and/or is still seeking answers for past loss.

Because, ultimately, the reason that it’s so hard to let go of heartbreak is the relentless need to understand why. Why did they do that to me? Why wasn’t I enough for them when they were enough for me? You can tell yourself a million times that the reason they hurt you is because they suck — and I say this as the Queen of Good Breakups, who has always done her best to mitigate the pain of any breakups I’ve initiated — but you won’t necessarily believe it, and look for answers in other people and experiences, festivals and faith and externalities, before you realize what Viv does:

It wasn’t fortune-telling I needed, it was self-revelation.

As a Tarot girlie myself, this hit me hard in the feels. Tarot is, in my experience, an incredible way to bolster yourself for the daily challenges you face, and to really explore your reactions to same. Sure there’s a teeny tiny element of prognostication involved, but reading Tarot is, by and large, an excellent self-care practice meant to keep your heart and mind open and engaged with the world. When I ask my cards, over and over again, what I should do about my latest ex, I’m really asking them how to fulfill that part of me that craves love in all its forms, as annoyingly personified by this one guy. Mr Okri understands that, as well as the way in which it’s easier for people to hear good advice when it comes from an authority we lend credence to, whether deserving or otherwise (as “deserving” isn’t really the point.) We aren’t raised to trust ourselves — often for good reason — so the intervention of the mystical and/or inarguable is often necessary to guide us to both understanding and accepting the truth.

My only criticism of this book was how bizarrely middle class it could be in terms of money. I barked with ironic laughter when the women claimed that the happiest people they know are the poorest. Honestly, in this economy?! Perhaps it was meant to show how out of touch the main characters are with reality, as only idiots think that poverty and happiness go hand in hand. That aside, this was a moving, insightful look at the importance of knowing yourself in order to better let go of the past and embrace the future. I’m glad I read it when I did, as it helps me continue moving forward with love for and faith in myself.

Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Brokenhearted by Ben Okri was published March 18 2025 by Other Press and is available from all good booksellers, including