Pure by Andrew Miller

Description

“When an engineer is sent to clear a Parisian graveyard in 1785 in order to ‘cleanse’ the city he doesn’t count on how deeply rooted it’s history is with local residents. A stunningly good novel that completely absorbs you!” Bob

A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of mummified corpses and chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love… A year unlike any other he has lived.

Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it.

At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own.

WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD (2011)