Madame Tussaud's Apprentice Kathleen Benner Duble

This I know of La Revolution Française: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, le Petit Trianon, Versailles, The Bastille, Mirabeau, Marat, Madame Tussaud, Madame la Guillotine, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la mort, La Marseillaise... What is a monster? A king so cut off from his people that he can't see their pain? A girl so enamoured of her art and her position that she abandons the very person who saved her life? Or a boy so caught up in a cause that he lets himself do things he will for ever regret?

It is 1789 and Paris is writhing in its own discontent. Celie is involved in petty thieving with her accomplice when they pick the wrong victim and a deal is struck to use her talents of observation and penmanship for a very different purpose. Soon she is set on a path that will take her into the beating heart of the revolution. As she is torn between her radical inclinations and respect for the intrepid Manon she finds herself in all the right places at the wrong time. Will she be tarnished by association? And what of Manon (Tussaud) and her staff? How will they escape when the world they know is turned upon its head?

This atmospheric novel is thick with the odour of the backstreets and gaols, the kitchens and palaces of the period. If you enjoyed Sally Gardner's The Red Necklace, this is another slice of one of the most I important events in human history. This is a novel to relish, and indeed it could ignite a life-long curiosity for this extraordinary era. Look out for some more beautiful books from Alma Books over the coming months. There will be an opportunity to meet Kathleen when she visits the shop on October 17th. See our Events page for more details.