By 1785 the cemetery at les Innocents in the
heart of Paris has become a problem that can be ignored no longer. The rotting
of countless bodies, particularly in the common pits, is producing a stink that
pervades the district and threatens public health. The King has decreed that
the church and graveyard, bones and all, be removed.
Young provincial engineer Jean-Baptiste
Baratte is given the task and arrives in the capital keen to make his name as
the man who purified Paris. He soon meets a cast of characters who would be at
home in Les Miserables.
There is the demonic remnant priest, heard
but not seen; an aged sexton with a young, innocent daughter eager to help; the
organist with revolutionary tendencies; Baratte’s landlord and landlady with an
eligible if unattractive daughter; and finally the mysterious “Austrienne” who
plies her ancient profession to the better off local tradesmen.
The engineer brings into the mix his former
colleague from the mines of Valenciennes with his handpicked crew of ex-miners
to dig out the burial pits and extract the bones for transfer out of the city.
Jean-Baptiste’s professional, personal and
even political life comes under close scrutiny as his mission becomes known;
welcomed by some locals but resented by others. He is a free thinker, a man of
the future, but this job could grind anyone down and pressure grows as the
summer heat builds.
The story unfolds in the present tense,
giving an immediacy and volatility that suits its ends. The writing is crisp
and, despite its dark subject, light, drawing the reader effortlessly into
pre-revolutionary Paris. The characters are well drawn and tension and uncertainty
remain to the end.
All that is known for sure is that Jean-Baptiste
will finish the year more than 12 months older and much wiser in the ways of
Paris.
No comments:
Post a Comment