Kate Berridge

I'm very disappointed in Kate Berridge's "Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax." I would have guessed that Madame Tussaud and the time she lived - before, during and after the French Revolution - would have been fascinating to read about, but this book is dry and dull, except for the occasional sarcastic zingers, which seem totally inappropriate for the subject. Kate Berridge does not even try to hide her contempt for Madame Tussaud, and the reader is left to wonder why, then, she chose to write a show more 300+ page book with her as the supposed central character. I say 'supposed' because, in fact, the book seems to have very little to do with Madame Tussaud herself. Not recommended. show less

Madame Tussaud was taught by her “uncle”(? Not sure if he was really her uncle, or just the man her mother worked for) to form wax models. She also turned out to be a pretty good marketer and businesswoman. She lived through the French Revolution, then took her wax figures with her to England. From there, she travelled through Scotland and Ireland. Meanwhile, her husband and one son (the other son was with her) stayed in France (until the younger son was in his early 20s, at which time show more he joined his mother and brother). A man she had gone into business with when she went to England and her husband took advantage of her brilliant head for business (and the money that came from it).

Most of what people know of the early part of Marie Grosholtz’s (Madame Tussaud’s) life came from her own autobiography. This author tries to verify (but has a hard time doing so) much of what Marie wrote about her own life. It seems that there may have been a lot of exaggeration, particularly during the French Revolution, when she created wax figures out of decapitated heads during the “Terror”. It was easier to verify her life (as she became more well-known) once she moved to England.

The book was ok, but a few too many parts of it were kind of dry reading. All I knew about her was from Michelle Moran’s book, but her book pretty much ended when Marie moved to England. I hadn’t realized she had done as much travelling as she had – to promote her show and her wax models. She really does seem to have had a good head for business, but much of her money was taken by a bad deal with the man she went into business with in England (until she untangled herself from him) and her dud of a husband in France. show less

Fascinating work on this amazing and groundbreaking woman entrepneur. Looks at how the desire for "entertainment" and education came together for the middle class and has continued until today. Her life, though embellished in her own memoirs, is still a hair raising tale of survival and persistance in the face of both natural and man made disasters.

Man erfaehrt viel ueber die Zeit der franzoesischen Revolution, die verschiedenen Modestroemungen, den Untergang der Monarchie und fruehe Werbestrategien. Von diesem Standpunkt aus ist das Buch sehr interessant.
Ueber Madame Tussaud selber erfaerht man aber eher wenig, da sie wenig Privates der Oeffentlichkeit preisgegeben hat und somit nicht viel von ihr persoenlich (Gedanken, Gefuehle, Reaktion auf Schicksalschlaege) ueberliefert ist.