Waxing Mythical

Marie Tussaud led a remarkable life and with grit and audacity she overcame reversals of fortune to build an extraordinary spectacle. Of lowly birth, Marie became apprentice to a charismatic Paris showman who taught her wax modelling. They lived among a colourful cast of 'Italian singers, pastry cooks, restaurant keepers, marionettes, acrobats, giants, dwarves, ferocious beasts'. In her memoir she also claimed friendship with royals and revolutionaries including Marie Antoinette and Voltaire. But, as a born entrepreneur, did Marie's flair for publicity extend to moulding her own story? After the Revolution, she came to England and took her show on the road. She pursued the punishing lifestyle of the travelling show for years and secured a lasting reputation in the Dickensian world of 19th century popular entertainment. More than a biography, this captivating cultural history plunges the reader into the escapist delights of canine cabaret, living skeletons, phantasmagoria and waxworks. It reveals a truth that Madame Tussaud harnessed from the outset - the appeal of glamour and gore is enduring and universal.

About the author

Kate Berridge started her writing career with obituaries and progressed to writing a book about death, VIGOR MORTIS - her irreverent, witty and never morbid account of society`s attitude to death. She moved on to WAXING MYTHICAL, a biography of Madame Tussaud. Kate has contributed to a wide range of broadsheets and magazines including Vogue, the Spectator, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph.

Product details

• Authors: Kate Berridge, Berridge Kate
• Publisher: John Murray
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 03.05.2007
• EAN: 9780719565526
• ISBN: 978-0-7195-6552-6
• No. of pages: 368
• Dimensions: 127 mm x 198 mm x 23 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Non-fiction book > History > Biographies, autobiographies; France, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, Biography: historical, political & military, CRAFTS & HOBBIES / Carving, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Biography: historical, political and military, C 1700 To C 1800, Carving & modelling, moulding & casting, Carving and modelling, moulding and casting, Non fiction: biographies, memoirs