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Author: Carey, Edward

Myth & legend told as fiction

Published on 22 May 2025 by PUSHKIN PRESS (ONE) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 480 pages
197 x 130 x 29 | 350g

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD, THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE, THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION AND THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE

‘Wonderful’ Max Porter

‘Unmissable’ Olga Tokarczuk

‘Startlingly original’ Times Book of the Year

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

Born in Alsace in 1761, the diminutive Marie Grosholtz is quickly nicknamed ‘Little’. Orphaned at the age of six, she finds employment in the household of reclusive anatomist Dr Curtius. Soon the eccentric doctor takes an interest in his odd companion, and he begins to instruct her in the fine art of wax modelling, changing the course of her life.

From the gutters of pre-revolutionary France to the luxury of the Palace of Versailles, from clutching the still-warm heads of the Terror to finding something very like love, Little traces the improbable fortunes of a blood-stained crumb of a thing who went on to be the renowned Madame Tussaud.

MORE PRAISE FOR LITTLE:

‘Visceral, vivid and moving’ GUARDIAN

‘A remarkable achievement’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Don’t miss eccentric charmer’ MARGARET ATWOOD

‘Absolutely brilliant’ SUSAN HILL

‘Mesmerising’ IRISH INDEPENDENT

‘A tale as moving as it is macabre’ MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘Darkly fascinating’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘Cinematic in scope’ TLS

‘Poignant and absorbing’ LITERARY REVIEW

‘Clever and intriguing’ DAILY MAIL

‘Rich in deadpan wit and surgically precise observation’ A. L. KENNEDY

‘Wonderfully weird’ CELESTE NG