Little by Edward Carey is just something else. A real special book.

I felt so much when reading Little, I honestly just can’t put into words how amazing this book is from cover to cover. But here goes…

The plot:

In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Alsace. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son.

Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth.

But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: the revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and… at the wax museum, heads are what they do.

Edward Carey’s Little is a wonder – the incredible story of a ‘blood-stained crumb of a girl’ who went on to shape the world.

I really had to take my time with this one because I just did not want it to end

If you saw me upload any pictures of drawings into my Insta story/ Twitter feed, this is the book – you guys marveled at them, and when you are reading the story alongside seeing these drawings, you just instantly fall in love with everything.

If you didn’t see this book on my socials, this book is full of illustrations drawn by the author which depicts what is being said. There’s a lot of morbid stuff in Little, but it all shapes the story into what it needs to be. I’ve put some pictures right at the bottom of this post for you to check out.

I really had to take my time with this one because I just did not want it to end. Everything about it, from the drawings, the characters and the story – I just loved it. It’s all written in first person from ‘Little’, and is basically a story of her life, from her point of view.

When I scheduled in time to read this book, nothing could distract me once I’d opened it. Needed to pee? Nope, bladder almost burst. Thirsty? Dehydrated for an hour. I became fully immersed in Little and nothing else really mattered when I was reading it.

Absolutely one of a kind, and a book which you need to read. Like. Now.

A tale of wax and life, Little will stay with me forever. A book which you will not want to end – historical fiction at its finest.

Bookmark That approved BIG TIME.

Little, Edward Carey, RRP £10.99; Book Depository 

Pages: 458 (and every page is just so special)

Publisher: Gallic Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

(Beautiful, right? This is right at the back of the book, so make sure you don’t read the text otherwise spoilers!)

(There’s loads of these little illustrations the whole way through the book, and it just adds another depth to the reader experience!)