This review was originally posted at Christa's Hooked on Books --> http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot... 
 Marie Grosholtz may be young, but she knows what she wants out of life. She works everyday on the wax figures in her uncle's Paris Salon so that she can achieve one thing: success and stability for her family. Slowly but surely her gift for creating life like wax models is being recognized. Even the royal family has come to the Salon to see the figures of themselves. As political tensions rise in France, however, the Salon because more than a simple display of wax figures. It becomes citizens' source of news and trends and it throws Marie (and her family) right into the centre of the conflict. As the Revolution breaks out Marie finds herself in the middle of chaos and as people are arrested and killed for the smallest offence she finds herself having to make a choice between safety and humanity. 
 In my opinion French revolutionary history is always interesting. It was a time of madness and turmoil. It was a time of great political upheaval and change. It was filled with so many interesting players that we are familiar with to this day, Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, Marat, Louis XVI. When thinking back on my lessons in French revolutionary history, however, Marie Grosholtz was not one of those players. I didn't even know Madame Tussaud (as she would later be known) was alive during the French Revolution! All I knew was that she was someone that made wax figures and now there are wax museums named after her all over the world. 
 Here's what I know now. Madame Tussaud was not only alive for the French Revolution she was right in the thick of it. Michelle Moran has picked the perfect character. She was situated right in the middle of the madness, familiar with both the royal family and the leaders of the Revolution. This gave the novel a fresh feel. This was the French Revolution that we're all familiar with but this was also the French Revolution from a different perspective. I think this allowed the characters to develop in a much more human way. There's always a great deal of sympathy for the French people but when reading this book, I also felt a great deal of sympathy for the royal family and leaders of the Revolution. 
 Moran's depiction of Marie Grosholtz is an extremely likable one. You have to admire you ambition and her stubbornness. Though she valued success she was willing to put her family's needs before her own. I couldn't imagine living in Paris during the Revolution much less being forced to witness many of the tragedies Marie did. As a well known wax sculptor she was often called upon to make death masks of so called "traitors". So of these were friends or customers. It still gives me the shivers to think her holding someone's head in her lap in order to make a mold. For a less known player she sure had a lot of strength and bravery. 
 Michelle Moran's writing keeps you engaged. You want to follow Marie and all the atrocities she is forced to come across. You want to know what happens to her. You may already be familiar with the events of the French Revolution but this novel gives you a whole different perspective. In the midst of all the horror that was the French Revolution is even manages to be witty and endearing. If you've ever wandered by a Madame Tussaud's wax museum and wondered who she was you should definitely ready this book.