Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
ARC, Paperback, 480 pages
Crown Publishers
December 27, 2011
★★★★☆
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Received from the publisher for review
“The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire…but who was this woman and how did she become one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous story comes to life as only Michelle Moran could tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin…”I waited awhile before I got started with this one primarily because I knew it was going to be very different that the previous novel by this author. I had enthusiastically loved Moran’s first 3 novels with their Egyptian connections and with the sharp change in venue to revolutionary France I was wary as to if I would enjoy it quite the same. I gave it some time for the idea of this novel to settle in.
I did have a harder time with this novel than her other books. I think that this is possibly due to the fact that revolutionary France is not my most favorite time period. The beginning of the novel was a little slow for me. Once I reached the part of the novel where the revolution really reached its height it became much more interesting and fast paced. I disliked how wishy-washy Marie was in terms of the men in her life and the path that she wants to take.
In her traditional manner, Moran hits the mark in her descriptions; primarily in the sculpting practices of Marie and her Uncle and their exhibitions. The way that they continuously had to change their business with the tide of the revolution was truly terrifying. The scenes in the prison were eye-opening and I can imagine how one could fall in love amongst the desolation.
Overall, this was an interesting novel and I did enjoy learning about the life of the future Madame Tussaud.
If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?
You can also watch the book trailer below.
Reviews of this book by other bloggers:
• The Lit Witch
• To Read or Not to Read
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia
Also by Michelle Moran:
Mata Hari’s Last Dance
The Second Empress
The Heretic Queen
[My Review]
Rebel Queen
Cleopatra’s Daughter
[My Review]
Nefertiti
[My Review]
Find Michelle Moran: Website | Blog | Facebook | Pinterest
Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court
I loved this book so much!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm enjoying this book more as time passes and it resonates in my memory rather than when I was actually reading it.
DeleteNice review! I picked this book up for $2 at a used bookstore several months ago and it's languished on my TBR pile ever since.
ReplyDeleteLike you, the French Revolution is one of my least favorite times to read about and - having loved Moran's Egypt books - I worried about the switch. It was good to hear from a similar perspective - hopefully I can enjoy the book as you did!
It was still a good read, I just had to slowly go through it a little bit since the French Revolution isn't my favorite. I think you will still enjoy it - Moran's writing is still phenomenal.
DeleteExcellent and well balanced review. I do like French Revolutionary period, because the behavior during that time is mind blowing. Thanks for your thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteThe behavior is quite crazy - the mob mentality is just unbelievable.
DeleteThis was the first of Michelle Moran's novels that I read, and I really enjoyed it. I've since read Cleopatra's Daughter, which I liked, but not quite as much as Madame Tussaud. I'm intrigued by the French Revolution though, so that might explain why I liked it so much.
ReplyDeleteGreat review.
My favorite was The Heretic Queen - probably mostly because I love Nefertari. If I were to rank them I would put: 1. Heretic Queen, 2. Nefertiti, 3. Cleopatra's Daughter, 4. Madame Tussaud. I'm a little leery of Second Empress because it is still French, but I may enjoy it.
DeleteShe is such an awesome author! I liked this, but I enjoyed Cleopatra's Daughter more just b/c the time period is more intriguing to me :)
ReplyDeleteThat's how it was for me too.
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