In a book club and starting to plan your reads for next year? Check out our 2025 picks.

BookBrowse Reviews Little by Edward Carey

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Little by Edward Carey

Little

A Novel

by Edward Carey
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • First Published:
  • Oct 23, 2018, 448 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2019, 448 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

BookBrowse:


In this dark but charming novel, Edward Carey relates the fascinating biography of wax figure artist Madame Tussaud.

Fantastical, grotesque and beautiful, Edward Carey's Little explores the life and times of Marie Grosholtz, better known as Madame Tussaud. She begins her life as a poor orphaned child and ends it as a keeper of stories, an artist of the macabre, and a shrewd businesswoman operating the hall of replicas for which she is most known. In between, she learns the intricacies of the human body through wax sculpting; lives in a cupboard at Versailles; makes a family out of a reclusive doctor, a ferocious widow and her timid son; and survives the horrors of the French Revolution.

Carey creates a magical world, shrouded by normalcy. This magic can only be discovered if you look closely. Take, for example, the scapula bone, which holds up the human shoulder, a shoulder that can offer great comfort in the face of tragedy. Or a crooked chin, which might be called ugly, but can also keep a deceased parent's memory alive through a family resemblance. Little is filled with such beautiful minutiae, such perfect glimpses into a world much more colorful than our own. All is made tangible and more comprehensible through the inclusion of Carey's gorgeous and haunting illustrations. Don't be surprised if they seem strange and disturbing at first, you have not yet learned to look closely enough. By the end of the novel, you will be unable to look away.

Marie, known mostly by her nickname "Little," is a wonderful narrator and companion to the reader. She shares everything in her life simply and without pretense. She offers no judgment, but instead seeks to understand everyone that wanders into her path—from feral street boys to spoiled princesses. She is an exceedingly endearing protagonist, and an honest guide through her own sliver of history. Carey writes his little heroine with tenderness and authenticity, as if she just stepped off the streets of Paris into your living room.

Although seemingly too outlandish to be true, the events of Madame Tussaud's life are portrayed as they occurred, albeit with a bit of flair added here and there. Carey has done his research—he knows the intricacies of Versailles life during the reign of Louis XVI, and renders the escalation of violence during the French Revolution with accuracy and urgency.

This is a rare gem of a book, lacking absolutely nothing. Beautifully written, fully realized and truly engrossing, Little can be read again and again. It would do well as a movie or a TV miniseries, but it is perfectly lovely in its current form. Enjoy this sumptuous feast for the eyes, it is truly a treat.

Reviewed by Natalie Vaynberg

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in October 2018, and has been updated for the January 2020 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  Robespierre's Reign of Terror

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Little, try these:

  • Circe jacket

    Circe

    by Madeline Miller

    Published 2020

    About This book

    More by this author

    Winner of the 2018 BookBrowse Fiction Award

    The daring, dazzling and highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Song of Achilles.

  • The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock jacket

    The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock

    by Imogen Hermes Gowar

    Published 2019

    About This book

    In 1780s London, a prosperous merchant finds his quiet life upended when he unexpectedly receives a most unusual creature - and meets a most extraordinary woman - in this much-lauded, atmospheric debut that examines our capacity for wonder, obsession, and desire with all the magnetism, originality, and literary magic of The Essex Serpent.

We have 6 read-alikes for Little, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Edward Carey
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Puzzle Box
    The Puzzle Box
    by Danielle Trussoni
    During the tumultuous last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a 17-year-old emperor known as Meiji ...
  • Book Jacket
    Something, Not Nothing
    by Sarah Leavitt
    In 2020, after a lifetime of struggling with increasingly ill health, Sarah Leavitt's partner, ...
  • Book Jacket
    A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens
    by Raul Palma
    Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the ...
  • Book Jacket
    The MANIAC
    by Benjamin Labatut
    The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut is an ambitious work that falls squarely into the category of fiction...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Libby Lost and Found
    by Stephanie Booth

    Libby Lost and Found is a book for people who don't know who they are without the books they love.

Who Said...

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people... but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

H I O the G

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.