Author: Edward Carey
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
About the Book...
In 1761, a year a great many things happened, tiny Marie Grosholtz is born in Switzerland to a loving mother and an absent solider father. At age six, though, things change when an accident brings her father home, ultimately leads to his death, and her mother is forced to take a job with a Doctor Curtius, a man who makes wax figures of organs for the hospital. When her mother unexpectedly dies, she finds herself an assistant to Curtius whose interests are steadily shifting away from working for the hospital to sculpting wax heads, which takes them to Paris, where her life plays out among the a widow and her son, those living in the royal palace, the tumultuous French Revolution, and, of course, figures of wax.
What I Think...
The idea of a fictional autobiography of Anne Marie Grosholtz, better known as Madame Tussaud, was incredibly appealing to me and this book did not disappoint.
While I know this wasn't all that historically accurate, keeping in mind that the author himself mentions how little information we do have on certain things, I still found the story engaging from start to finish. It was well written and the narrative came across in a natural manner. I thought Carey did an excellent job of conveying Marie's growth as a person throughout her life and the various tragedies she endures. An aspect pertaining to this that I really liked was how much of the text consisted of reflective observations about her experiences and those she interacted with, in the vein of the unreliable narrator, rather than relying on a more straightforward narrative. The emotional shifts in the character as she comes to understandings on certain aspects of her life were also well done.
Included among the text are "Marie's sketches" that she mentions in the narrative, which I thought were a nice touch.
To Sum it All Up...
An absorbing and unique book that left me wanting to learn more about the real Madame Tussaud! ♥
What a fascinating book! I've watched a few biographies on Marie before and think that she was such an interesting, creative woman (who, one could argue, was ahead of her time in some respects).
ReplyDeleteWhile I've not yet been to one of the museums that carry her name, I'd welcome the chance to do so, if it came my way. Chances are, were it not for Marie's work, the field of wax sculpture carving would not be as popular or well known today were it not for this creative, enterprising lady.
Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life
I found the the topic fascinating, so I'm definitely going to be seeking out more about her in the future!
DeleteI have yet to have been to any of the wax museums named after her either. We used to have a wax museum relatively close by(not a Tussaud), but it closed around 2006 and I never got to go see it. Someday, though I'll eventually make it to one. :)