Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution

I'm getting back into some fiction reading and was very impressed with Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I assumed the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum started in London in the 70s or 80s. Well, it did start in the 70s --- the 1870s! Yes, this book was about the woman behind the museum, but because of her connections with both the royalist and revolutionary sides of the French Revolution, we get to see both sides of the conflict as it developed and spiraled out of control.

This book does have descriptions of the violence of war. I thought it was fascinating, though, especially in the wake of the revolutions in the Middle East to see how similar the development of the French Revolution (using cafes instead of Twitter and Facebook) was to our current world. Hopefully we have learned from the past. In history classes I've had, though, there was no real explanation as to how reasonable people with the best of intentions can spiral out of control. To me, that portrait was the most fascinating part of this book.

Let me know if you get a chance to read it and what you think!

Happy Weekend!