Madame Tussaud

Tocsin: an alarm bell.

Tuileries: a palace and garden complex that housed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette after their removal from Versailles. The Tuileries, or tile works, were later used by both the National Convention and Napoleon. The site is now a garden, adjacent to the Louvre museum.

Tumbrel: a two-wheeled cart used to carry condemned prisoners to the guillotine.

“Vive le roi!”: a toast and rallying cry for royalists meaning “Long live the king!”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AS ALWAYS, MY DEEPEST AND MOST HEARTFELT THANKS GO TO MY family. I could not imagine life as a writer without the support of my infinitely generous husband, Matthew Carter, who knows more about the publishing industry than any husband should ever have to. I am also thankful to my father, who passed on his love and passion for history, and to my mother for her constant and unwavering support. To my brothers, Robert Moran and Robert Small, thank you for your unflagging encouragement. And to the many friends who have supported me behind the scenes, I hope to repay you in kind someday. Long before I was ever published, my friends and family considered me a writer, and this is one of the greatest gifts an author can receive: belief and encouragement.

I have also been incredibly fortunate in my relationship with Crown, a division of Random House filled with some of the most dedicated and wonderful people in the publishing industry. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my copy editor, Susan Brown; to my production editor, Cindy Berman; and to both Patty Berg and Jay Sones in marketing, Dyana Messina in publicity, Jennifer O’Connor in the art department, and Kira Peikoff. Crown’s sales team has seen to it that my novels have been distributed far and wide, and I am deeply appreciative of their support. And to Laura Crisp, who was the driving force behind Target’s pick of Nefertiti as one of their Book Club selections, I cannot thank you enough.

Of course, my biggest thanks of all goes to Heather Lazare, my editor extraordinaire. An editor’s job extends far beyond the process of editing, yet Heather wears multiple hats with ease, making every day an absolute pleasure to work with her.

To Giulliana Benavides, Jessica Bracamontes, Sarah Crosthwaite, Chantelle Doss, and Ashley Turner, tremendous thanks for helping me sort through all of my research on Versailles and the French Revolution. And none of that research would have been possible without the incredible scholars who have written about the eighteenth century. Of the many books I used as resources, there are some that stand out as having been indispensable. Kate Berridge’s wonderful biography entitled Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax comes to mind, as does Caroline Weber’s Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Elisabeth de Feydeau’s A Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette’s Perfumer, and Simon Schama’s Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.

I am enormously grateful to Kathy, Dusty, and Ashley Rhodes, who allowed me to write this novel in their historic home in Southern California. And I owe a similar debt of gratitude to the many wonderful bloggers who have written about my books—the blogging community is very dear to my heart!

Last, I would like to thank my fantastic agent, Dan Lazar, whose guidance and advice have been invaluable to me. I have never known anyone who works so passionately at what they do. And to Maja Nikolic and Angharad Kowal, who have helped bring this novel to readers around the world, I am exceptionally grateful.