It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse-even if it means time awayįrom her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.Īs Marie gets to know her pupil, Princesse Élisabeth, she also becomes acquainted with the king and queen, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses.

Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dream is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires.

From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics. Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin. but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire.

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran