Pure by Andrew Miller

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 assault and sudden death. A year of friendship, too, and of desire and love. A year unlike any other he has lived.

- Google

The 2687th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - Costa Book Award - Best Novel (Costa Coffee)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Pure Paperback 2360184 $20.20 $1.75 2011
Pure Audio CD 6942342 $37.35 $33.73 2012
Pure Kindle Edition 70405 $7.99 2012
Pure Hardcover 780061 $21.00 $0.12 2011
Pure Paperback 2133411 $9.51 $0.01 2012
Pure Kindle Edition 453603 $2.99 2012
Pure Paperback 511556 $9.88 $1.24 2012