Author(s): Edward Carey

Novel | Historical | France | Read our reviews!

'A startlingly original novel' -- Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR

There is a space between life and death: it's called waxworks

Born in Alsace in 1761, the unsightly, diminutive Marie Grosholtz is quickly nicknamed "Little." Orphaned at the age of six, she finds employment in the household of reclusive anatomist, Dr Curtius. Her role soon surpasses that of mere servant as the eccentric doctor takes an interest in his newfound companion and begins to instruct her in the fine art of wax modelling.

From the gutters of pre-revolutionary France to the luxury of the Palace of Versailles, from clutching the still-warm heads of Robespierre's Terror to finding something very like love, Little traces the improbable fortunes of a bloodstained crumb of a thing who went on to shape the world...

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'Don't miss this eccentric charmer' @MargaretAtwood 'Absolutely brilliant' Susan Hill

'Rich and engrossing, there is an extraordinary potency to Carey's material ... A visceral, vivid and moving novel' GUARDIAN

'In this gloriously gruesome imagining of the girlhood of Marie Tussaud, mistress of wax, fleas will bite, rats will run and heads will roll and roll and roll. Guts'n'gore galore: I bloody loved it' SPECTATOR 'A tale as moving as it is macabre' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'One of the most original historical novels of the year... Macabre, funny, touching and oddly life-affirming, Little is a remarkable achievement' SUNDAY TIMES 'Beautifully published... poignant... absorbing' LITERARY REVIEW 'Clever and intriguing' DAILY MAIL

'Marie's story is fascinating in itself, but Carey's talent makes her journey a thing of wonder' NEW YORK TIMES

'By turns witty, ghoulish, poignant and curiously life-affirming, Little is a historical novel unlike any other' BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

'It is Carey's uniquely inventive style that makes this novel so completely, wickedly, addictive' BIG ISSUE 'Edward Carey is one of the strangest writers we are privileged to have in this country' OBSERVER 'Carey creates an indelible character in Little, sprinkles idiosyncratic drawings throughout and folds his narrative in cunning ways...' BBC 'Full of rich historical detail and beautiful illustrations ... a rare treat of a novel that will stay with you long after you turn the final page' HEAT 'Compulsively readable: so canny and weird and surfeited with the reality of human capacity and ingenuity that I am stymied for comparison. Dickens and David Lynch? Defoe meets Atwood? Judge for yourself...' Gregory Maguire, author of WICKED

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STELLA'S REVIEW:
If you are after an absorbing, inventive, quirky and absolutely charming novel, read Edward Carey’s Little. Set predominantly in France, meet its history and its most famous Parisians, not to forget the Court of Versailles, through the wax heads cast by Doctor Curtius and the young Marie Grosholtz. Marie, nicknamed Little due to her diminutive size and the young age at which she is apprenticed to Curtius after her mother’s untimely death, is an unlikely employee at the age of six to the reclusive anatomist, but she proves to be exactly the right person for the development of his wax work. Obsessed with producing perfect heads, he needs someone who not only understands his passion but someone who has the skills to draw, assist, mix plaster, pour moulds and thread in hair — a time-consuming and precise job. Marie Grosholz is the perfect assistant. With Carey’s excellent illustrations, wonderful and crazy characters (the frightening Widow Picot, the nervous tick of a young man, her son Edmond, the pious, yet rather foolish Princess Elisabeth, a fanciful portrayal of Loius XVI, and the brutal dog-boy-man of the elaborate name, Jacques Beauvisage), and delicious writing in the voice of our plucky heroine Little, you will be delighted. It’s France, gutter and luxury, charm and chaos, from the celebrity status of Curtius’s Cabinet of Curiosities (murderers rubbing shoulders with wealthier rogues) at The Monkey House, to the macabre fascination for the royal court. From poverty to riches to revolution and disaster, Marie Grosholtz will dance a daring zigzag of ill wind, good luck and careful advantage, not to mention some chance, to survive (if sleeping in a windowless room or a largish cupboard passes for living) and eventually prosper. She will find love, and lose it; she will be a favourite and then dismissed; she will overcome only to be pushed down in the muck, imprisoned and then released. Her talent for waxwork saves her in the end. Wonderful.