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

Edward Carey was born in Norfolk, England. He is a novelist, visual artist and has also written and directed a number of plays for the National Theatre of Romania and the Vilnius Small State Theatre, Lithuania. In England his plays and adaptations have been performed at the Young Vic Studio, the Battersea Arts Centre, and the Royal Opera House Studio. He is the author of the novels Observatory Mansions, Alva and Irva, and the acclaimed YA series The Iremonger Trilogy, which has been published in thirteen countries and has been optioned for film adaptation. After university, Edward worked at Madame Tussaud in London, preventing people from touching the waxworks, and it was there that he learnt the incredible story of the museum's founder. Edward lives in Austin, Texas in the United States, and teaches at the University of Austin.