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Book Spotlight: Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran & Giveaway

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I’m really excited to spotlight Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran today as today is the day that the paperback releases and as an added bonus the paperback contains lots of fresh content including historical notes, a new Q&A with Michelle, a reading guide for book groups, and an excerpt from her upcoming new novel, The Second Empress.  I have been a long time fan of Michelle’s since reading her very first novel Nefertiti (my review) and then came The Heretic Queen (my review) and Cleopatra’s Daughter (my review).  I have loved all of her books and I have just started Madame Tussaud myself and I’m loving it!  Michelle is an absolutely wonderful person who is a a joy to work with.  She has a great respect for bloggers that shines through and in return there are many of us who adore her and her books!  Today I’m going to share with you what Madame Tussaud is about and make sure to check out the fantastic giveaway at the end of the post!

 

About Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire…but who was this woman and how did she become one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous story comes to life as only Michelle Moran could tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin…

Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. 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, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and when word arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses, Marie never dreams that the king’s sister will request her presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. Yet when a letter with a gold seal is delivered to her home, Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie becomes acquainted with her pupil, Princess Élisabeth, she is taken to meet both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen, to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into to a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafés across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution…Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more importantly, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.

Read an excerpt
Madame Tussaud Q&A
Buy Madame Tussaud at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

 

Check out the Video Trailer

 

 

About Michelle Moran

Michelle Moran was born in the San Fernando Valley, CA. She took an interest in writing from an early age, purchasing Writer’s Market and submitting her stories and novellas to publishers from the time she was twelve. When she was accepted into Pomona College she took as many classes as possible in British Literature, particularly Milton, Chaucer, and the Bard. Not surprisingly, she majored in English while she was there. Following a summer in Israel where she worked as a volunteer archaeologist, she earned an MA from the Claremont Graduate University.

Michelle has traveled around the world, from Zimbabwe to India, and her experiences at archaeological sites were what inspired her to write historical fiction. She is the international bestselling author of Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen, and Cleopatra’s Daughter. Her fourth novel, Madame Tussaud, was released on February 15, 2011.

Michelle’s website
Michelle’s blog
Find Michelle on Facebook

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have 2 signed copies of Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran up for giveaway to my readers!  To enter…

  • For 1 entry simply leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
  • For 2 entries, follow my blog.  If you already do, thank you, and please let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word!

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will be drawing for the winners on Saturday, January 21, 2012.  Good luck!

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Comments

  8. This has been on my wish list for a long time. Madame Tussaud sounds like such a fascinating person. Thanks for the giveaway.

    I am a follower through Google.

    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

  11. Oh Dar! What a great giveaway! I have SO wanted to read this book, ever since the first few positive reviews had come out. I love Moran and think she does an incredible job with her historical fiction, and this one sounds amazing! Please do consider me for your giveaway!!

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

  40. I’d love to win a signed copy of Madame Tussaud. The French Revolution was such a turbulent time and I love it that we get a new slant on it from a real woman who is as famous today as she was when she founded the wax museum. I’m a long time follower of this blog and shared about this giveaway on my facebook page

    rena.mcgrath@yahoo.com

  53. I’ve been dying to read this one, and what a gorgeous cover for a book! long time follower:

    dianatangx3 (at) gmail (dot) com

  61. I won one of her books and I really need to make sure I read it in 2012…especially knowing how much you’ve enjoyed her books in the past!

  68. The Excerpt was great and the trailer was very interesting.

    GFC Follower

    divavixenqueen(at)gmail(dot)com

  72. Just found your blog & love it! I signed up for the RSS via email. Thanks for the giveaway & your blog.

  77. oh myy.. thanks for this giveaway!!!:)
    I follow via GFC:)
    BTW.. I’m so excited since it’s a signed copyyy:> I so hope I’d win:) please enter me in this giveaway:D THANKS AGAIN!!