Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Belinda Lyons-Lee, Transit Lounge, $32.99.
Defined as a delicious novel of twists and turns, there are lies, treasons and coils that will ensnare and engross the reader. Tussaud is the tale of Marie Tussaud’s life from when she made waxworks of the heads of famous people killed during the French revolution to about the time she started her waxworks public exhibitions in England.
Paris, 1810. Haunted by the French Revolution, Marie has locked herself away in her shop with the death masks she was forced to make to avoid the guillotine. Philidor, a famous magician, offers her the chance to accompany him to London to assist in creating a wax automaton that will bring them both money and success.
Following a disastrous performance on their opening night in which the wax on their prized spectacle melts, the eccentric Duke, William Cavendish, invites them to his rambling estate, Welbeck Abbey, where he suggests they take up residence and use his underground ballroom for a new show.
Effectively evoking the time period, Tussaud is a gothic story that’s full of characters. Tussaud is packed with secrets, subterfuge, avarice, yearning and manipulation with plenty of characters keen to take advantage of Marie and her creations for their own purposes.
It’s an extraordinary ride as Belinda Lyons-Lee touchingly captures Marie Tussaud’s ‘proud self-denial, her struggle to achieve independence in a world dominated by con-artists, and her rare talent to create the most perfect illusion of life.’
Can you name the rambling estate in this gothic narrative? If the answer is correct, you could be one of two winners to get a copy of the book. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 14 February 2022. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 15 February 2022.
