From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution

Michelle Moran

Start date: April 8, 2016

Discussion: 2016 Read Harder Challenge

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2016 Read Harder Challenge

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What Members Thought

Mar 21, 2011 Keturah rated it really liked it

I love historical fiction, especially when the book jackets are as colorful as this one is. This was a good read. The historical detail about the French Revolution and its players was extremely interesting and gave me a good refresher on some of the events of the time. Not being a scholar of the French Revolution, I can't vouch for its accuracy. I can vouch that it was interesting and well researched and also a lot of fun! It was so intriguing to think of Madame Tussaud's wax museums as more tha ...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Melissa Wiebe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, 2012, ebook

Originally reviewed at Jayne's Books.

First off, I should mention that the book starts off before Madame Tussaud gets married and therefore throughout most of the book she is known as Marie Grosholtz and I suppose for sales, the publisher or whoever was in charge of making this decision, the book was named Madame Tussaud.

I really enjoyed this book and the only reason that it took me longer than it should have was because it was on my e-reader, which some of you know isn't the greatest in sunshin ...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, memoir-and-bio, historical-fiction

This is a textbook case of an author who does so much research and knows her subject and setting so well that the historical bits of "he did this, and then this guy reacted like this and then the next day the papers said this and it is all true" got in the way of a really interesting story of Marie Tussaud.
In the middle part of the bog, there were parts that I felt like I was living day to day through the French revolution. That amount of detail was excessive and unnecessary. Sluggish. Depressin ...more

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May 29, 2013 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

I absolutely love when authors of historical fiction use their research to create vivid, realistic worlds, not just to show off every single thing they learned while researching. This book creates an incredible portrait of 18th century France. I was intrigued the entire time, though it was a little bittersweet knowing the outcome of Marie Antoinette's reign. For me, the violence was a bit graphic, but I'm not sure you can create a realistic portrayal of the French Revolution without it. ...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Erin Black-Mitchell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. I don't read a ton of historical fiction but found myself quite drawn into this story of the French Revolution. ...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Alison rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, z-md-elibrary

A wonderful look at the French Revolution through the eyes of the woman who became Madame Tussaud. The story had a good balance of the historical and the personal, and as I think any good historical fiction should, it whetted my appetite to read some nonfiction about this period.

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