Time for Another Random Book Review

My last Audible download was one of the best in a long time:  Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution.  I know I often nit-pick and gripe about fiction I've read lately, but I LOVED THIS BOOK. 

It took me a little while to get into the audio version, mostly because I had to adjust to the narrator's style, or maybe just her voice, and the fact that all of these French people were speaking with a variety of English accents.  After I adjusted to the narrator's style, I had to force myself to stop listening to get actual work done.  

I knew who Madame Tussaud was, of course, but very little about her role in the French Revolution, and whatever I'd learned in school about the revolution itself was mostly lost in the attic of my memory, so I still am not sure how much of the story was based on actual events and how much was literary license.   I'm now hoping to find a history of the revolution that is as readable as a David McCullough book. (I love to read history as long as it's entertaining, and David McCullough is by far my favorite author. Which reminds me, I never did blog about Washington: A Life.  I'll have to come back to that one another time, because after a couple of Chernow's books I've formed an opinion.)

 Don't be fooled by the pretty lady in the fancy dress on the cover. Madame Tussaud is not light historical fiction, or easy reading/listening.  I knew as much as the average American about the French Revolution, but hearing it like this, from Marie's eyewitness account (however fictionalized), is hard.  The vivid descriptions of riots and executions are not for the faint of heart.  If you have the stomach for the violence, the story is gripping, and Marie Grosholtz is portrayed as a woman way before her time - a strong-minded businesswoman and tough survivor.   It's a riveting story, but dark.  I loved it.