“Wachs“ – the new novel by Christine Wunnicke  Where can I find a corpse, please?

In her new novel, Christine Wunnicke takes a trip back to the 18th century and tells the unusual life stories of two strong-willed women in Paris.

Paris, 1773: On a November evening, a 15-year-old girl sneaks into a barracks and makes an unusual request to the soldiers: “I would like to buy a corpse, if you have one for me.”

Christine Wunnicke's new novel Wachs (Wax) begins in spectacular fashion. The multi-award-winning author and translator focuses on two historically authentic characters: firstly, the young apothecary's daughter Marie Marguerite Bihéron (1719-1795), who became a famous creator of anatomical wax models. The second important female character in the novel is Madeleine Françoise Basseporte (1701-1780). Bihéron learned to draw from the botanical illustrator, who was 18 years her senior.

The opening scene already shows Marie's courage, ambition and independence. Since it was impossible for women to acquire anatomical knowledge in 18th-century France, she had to do so temporarily in London. Although she became an expert in anatomical wax models, she was denied recognition in France – both during her lifetime and afterwards. None of her numerous wax models have survived.

If I knew what love felt like

At first, Marie tries a few anatomy teachers, but none of them can stand her for long. Instead, they “look for another profession. Madeleine is a creature from a nightmare. If I knew what love felt like, I would say I loved her,” Madeleine writes in a letter to the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné. On the subject of discrimination against women in a male-dominated world, she notes: The two women become friends, and in the novel they even become a couple, with the younger one being the impetuous one whom Madeleine cannot resist: Marie “throws herself into everything with fury, be it corpses or this breathing woman sitting there on the furniture, unaware of what is happening to her.” Although they are fundamentally different in nature, they do have some things in common: both are involved in things that were reserved for men at the time. They are self-taught and social outsiders.

Doubts about God and beheaded heads

Both Marie and Madeleine are devout due to their family background. Nevertheless, religious doubts are a driving force for them, especially for Marie, who is constantly reminded of mortality through her work with corpses: "You can't get rid of the smell. And people always remain. You cover the face, but that hardly makes it any easier." Her lifelong preoccupation with death also has a very personal component, as the early loss of her father triggered her first doubts about God: In her novel, Christine Wunnicke skilfully shifts between different time periods. She alternates between recounting different phases in the lives of her protagonists, while the elderly Marie, longing for death, looks back on her life in 1793. The French Revolution has entered its Reign of Terror, people are being beheaded, Madeleine has long since died, and Marie lives in poverty. Wunnicke invents an animal companion for her, a voracious little monkey that everything must be kept safe from.

The guillotine and German piano-making

In an interview with the cultural magazine Westart, Wunnicke describes the minor character of young Edmé, who does not know who his parents are, as the “great lover” of her novel. He tenderly cares for Marie, who is waiting to die and has not left the house for years. He not only brings her the newspaper, but also tells her about events in the city. Particularly sensational: a new guillotine, designed by a German harpsichord maker. This stimulates Marie's imagination: “Hopefully the cut would be perfectly vertical ... Otherwise it would be a disgrace for German piano-making and the French Republic.” Wunnicke even wrote the end of the novel so that Edmé is saved from the reign of terror.

Wachs has many facets. The novel tells a love story, but also describes a personal act of emancipation. Quite casually, it provides insights into one of the great turning points in European history. Christine Wunnicke once again proves herself to be an accomplished specialist in obscure short novels centred on historical figures with unconventional lives.

August 2025