Soap Lady

This unique & wise book is an enchanting reflection on the odd travails of childhood. Author & illustrator Renee French has brought her unique visual gift to this tender, ferocious tale. The book was inspired by a display at the Mutter Museum in Phila. at the College of Physicians of Phila. In Dec. 1874, the well-preserved body of a woman was found in a Phila. cemetery that was being relocated. Her fat had turned to adipocere, a waxy substance similar to lye soap that can occur in fat tissues under certain burial conditions. A Phila. physician, Dr. Joseph Leidy, recognized the scientific significance of this form of natural preservation, & got permission to send her body to the Mutter Museum, where it still can be seen.French, Renee is the author of 'Soap Lady', published 2001 under ISBN 9780756794194 and ISBN 0756794196.