Pure

The clearing of a cemetery stokes the fires of revolution in eighteenth-century France in this Costa Prize–winning "novel of ideas disguised as a ghost story" ( The New York Times ). Paris, 1785. An ambitious young engineer, Jean-Baptiste Baratte arrives in Paris charged with emptying the overflowing cemetery of Les Innocents, an ancient site whose stench is poisoning the neighborhood's air and water. A self-styled modern man of reason, Baratte sees his work as a chance to clear away the burden of history. But he soon suspects that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own fate—and the demise of the social order. As unrest against the court of Louis XVI mounts, the engineer realizes that the future he had planned may no longer be the one he wants. His assignment sets him on a path of discovery and desire, as well as relentless labor, assault, and sudden death. " Pure is a compelling, timely novel—with its throb of revolution, of ordinary people arising in anger—a narrative that takes death as its subject yet races with life." — The Guardian Winner of the Costa "Best Book of the Year" and "Best Novel" Award 2011 Andrew Miller's new novel is vividly realized fiction played out against the rich caophony of Paris on the cusp of the French Rveolution. Jean-Baptiste Baratte?an ambitious young engineer of modest origin?arives in the capital in 1785, charged by the King's minister with emptying the overflowing cemetery of Les Innocents , an ancient site whose stench is poisoning the neighborhood's air and water. At first Baratte sees his work 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 fate and to the demise of the social order. Baratte cannot forsee the dramas and calamities his task will trigger, or the incident that will transform his life. As unrest against the court of Louis XVI mounts, the engineer realizes that the future he had planned may no longer be the one he wants. His assignment becomes a year of relentless effort, a year of assault and sudden death. A year of friendship, too, and of desire and love. A year unlike any other he has lived Jean-Baptiste Baratte, an engineer of modest origin, arrives in the city in 1785, charged by the King's minister with emptying the overflowing cemetery of Les Innocents, a ancient site whose stench is poisoning the neighborhood's air and water and leaving a vile taste in its inhabitants' food. At first the ambitious Baratte sees his work 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 both his own demise and that of the monarchy. Baratte expects the task to be unpleasant but cannot foresee the dramas and calamities it will trigger, or the incident that will transform his life. As unrest against the court of Louis XVI mounts, the engineer realizes that the future he had planned may no longer be the one he wants. His assignment becomes a year of relentless work, exhuming of mummified corpses and listening to the chants of priests, a year of... Engineer Jean-Baptiste Baratte is tasked with emptying an overflowing cemetery in Paris in 1785, work he considers noble until he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery parallels his own fate and the demise of social order