Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted

Viv had the idea for the festival on the twentieth anniversary of the day her first husband abandoned her. But she didn't know it was the anniversary at the time.'If you've been devastated by having the love of your life walk out on you,' she said. 'Where the hell do you go?'Viv is a woman who does what she says she'll do. She has a successful career, a house in Notting Hill and a seat in the House of Lords. Six months to the day she first mooted the idea, the grounds of a dreamlike château in the South of France are invaded by a host of eager revellers, all intent on the experience of a lifetime - the much anticipated Festival for the Broken-Hearted.Everyone is in fancy dress. Everyone has been smashed up by love, in one way or another. No one knows who anyone else is. They have one night, and an enchanted forest to explore. And to crown it all, a very special guest is expected: the famous, the dangerous Madame Sosostris, world-renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller.Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare, with a dash of Mozart and a soupçon of Harry Styles - Ben Okri's story of a midsummer's night is as enchanted as the enchanted forest itself. Hearts will be healed, and hearts will be broken, but nobody will leave this festival exactly as they arrived.