Madame Tussaud

A Novel of the French Revolution

By: Michelle Moran

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin….

Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador Thomas Jefferson to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and when word arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses, Marie never dreams that the king's sister will request her presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. Yet when a letter with a gold seal is delivered to her home, Marie knows she cannot refuse---even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend Henri Charles.

As Marie becomes acquainted with her pupil, Princess Elisabeth, she is taken to meet both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she's ever seen to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into to a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafes across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there's whispered talk of revolution. Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? More important, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

©2011 Michelle Moran (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Moran is a sprightly and gimlet-eyed writer, so this should be fun - and a possible breakout." ( Library Journal)

Stuffy and Boring

I purchased this book many months ago and I was very excited about learning the story of Mme Tussaud, unfortunately it has taken me way too long and far too many efforts to go through it. At this point I can’t even tell whether it is the writing that I don’t enjoy or the pretentious and stuffy narration; or was it the direction that ruined this work?
To be frank I have even skipped some chapters hoping to find something better that doesn’t seem to exist. In the meantime, I have finished three other books and this one is going back to the shelf, unfinished.
I can’t stand one more minute of it and I still have over 9 hours to listen to.
This is among the worst books I’ve ever attempted to read.

Fantastic!

Madame Tussaud is a wonderful piece of historical fiction based on the life of Marie Grosholtz, the French woman who ran the Salon de Cire in Paris with her "uncle" Phillipe Curtius in the time of the French Revolution.
How she managed to keep her head (both literally and figuratively) while the world around her dissolved into madness makes for fascinating reading. Marie Grosholtz was a pragmatic businesswoman and talented artist who was intelligent enough to see the benefit of 'straddling' the line between the royalists and the patriots at the beginning of the revolution, and to be cautious in her actions as the patriots began to assume control. Moran takes some literary licenses moving around some events to fit her storytelling, but the essence of all that happened is captured masterfully.
In addition of sharing Marie’s life, the author also manages to add depth to the royal family and the leaders of the Revolution. Marie Antoinette, for example, is given a sympathetic portrait contrary to most historical reports I've read. If you are looking for a book that will capture the anarchy and terror during the French Revolution, I highly recommend this novel.

I loved this book.

entertained me and educated me. thanks, book!! great job.
here's more words that will allow me to submit this short review.

Excellent

I had no idea this story would be so interesting, or that Mme Tussaud was involved in the French Revolution. I really enjoyed this book.

Great History

What is there not to like about anything Michelle Moran writes? As usual her title character comes alive as the reader views the French Revolution through her eyes. The narrater was wonderful.

Pretty good story

A good historical novel set in the time of the French Revolution. The plot revolving the main character is not too complicated, but you do feel for the character as she finds herself more and more implicated in the revolution. The narration is very good.

Great Historical Fiction - Would Recommend

I really enjoyed this book - with perhaps the caveat that the narrator really overprounces the French words to sound extra-French and that gets annoying. Words like "cashier" that really you don't need to Frenchify for the story. Other than that, it was interesting, informative, and kept my attention! Worth a credit for sure.

Incredible story!

What an interesting character! Madame Tussaud was an incredibly strong woman. There are very few men or women that could live through and endure what she did. An excellent listen!

Really incredible account of the French Revolution

Although I didn't love this book as much as I did the Heritic Queen or Nefertiti, I thought account of history for both the main character and especially the French Revolution was incredible. If you like historical fiction, recommend this book.

Captivating from start to finish!

This was a fascinating account of the French Revolution through the perspective of someone who lives in Paris among the key revolutionaries but also experiences it through the lives of the nobles at Versailles. I love that is based on the life of Madame Tussaud!