Skip to main content

Madame Tussaud

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution is an adult historical fiction title by Michelle Moran.

Marie Tussaud has learned the art of wax sculpting from her uncle, whom she works alongside at the Salon de Cire, their wax museum. She has an impeccable eye for it, and their patrons often are amazed at how lifelike their models of popular heroes from the American Revolution like Thomas Jefferson are. Many also come to see the royal family in different moments of their luxe lives.

Yet, the Salon is also a place of gossip and news – so Marie soon begins to realize just how much people’s opinions of the royal family are changing. She knew already, of course, that there are many starving and having much financial difficulty – mostly due to famine and a heavy tax burden the lower classes must bear for the higher ones – but in December of 1788 she is starting to see the anger…

Still determined to keep the Salon open and active, creating new sculptures that reflect the days, news and desires, Marie is given a front view seat of the budding French Revolution all the way through the Reign of Terror.

Her skills may be her survival among the chaos – but how many others will perish?

Madame Tussaud spans five years and covers a ton of historical ground. Michelle Moran effortlessly weaves in numerous notable names like Robespierre, Lafayette, the Marquis de Sade (*shudder*), and the royal family. She manages to bring them all through the novel in an elegant, believable manner – mixing history and fact impeccably with a story that feels real and alive. Excellent!

I’ve always been fascinated by the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, etc. It’s such a terrifying piece of history, full of so much tragedy and madness. Michelle Moran gave us a unique perspective from Madame Tussaud’s point of view. I was truly floored.

First we have a prologue that is full of unspoken memories and a haunted past during one of history’s darkest periods. I was intrigued immediately. We are given an upfront look at the makings of a vengeful, violent revolution while following an ambitious, business-focused career woman in the successful Marie Tussaud.

Madame Tussaud is a riveting novel of the heartbreaking, horrifying fall of a monarchy from an achingly personal view, felt on a personal level. It’s suspenseful and frightening as tyranny rules, utterly disturbing, bloody, and chilling with few (but momentous) moments of hope, happiness, and love for Marie.

What we have here is a magnificent page turner that is, yes, oftentimes so nightmarish and horrifying it turns the stomach, with few happy endings. See, you feel like you are living it with Marie - which is not exactly fun, but truly absorbing and utterly memorable. Incredibly written. It highlights the ridiculousness, madness and danger of mob-rule and leaves you speechless.

As someone who usually reads YA, I do sometimes venture out – especially for historical fiction. I must say that I think readers of YA need to pick up Madame Tussaud. Though it is disquieting and sometimes graphic with the violence, so are many YA novels. This, however, also gives you history and an insanely good read – both of which any bibliophile can agree is an excellent combination.

No matter what you’re regular genre of choice is, Madame Tussaud is phenomenal, stunning, and absolutely unforgettable.

I will be more than ready to read Michelle Moran’s next novel, The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon’s Court, when it comes out!!!

In fact – I wish it was available right now! If she writes all her books with such passion, detail, and complete attention-grabbing anxiety, I want to read everything she’s written! How about you?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

First Step: Admit You Have a Problem

Hi fellow Bibliophiles! I have been rather neglectful to this blog... instead continuing to stay buried in a book as I have during the holidays. I'm hopeful that most of you have been doing this too and can easily accept my apology. Have I been reading? Um, yeah! (Translation: duh.) Just haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to actually WRITE about what I'm reading. Lol. But that's me, a bibliophile, an addict, an addict who's fallen off the wagon and fully embraced her love of reading - especially with all this free time to do so!!! I've also been watching awesome holiday movies, eating yummy, but bad-for-me, food and hanging out with the people I love best! You too? I hope! ;) Anyway, I will return with a new book review next week, most likely on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for your patience and keep reading!!!

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar