Pure by Andrew Miller Review

Paris. 1785. Market sellers howl out prices behind a litter of cheese stalls, dishonoured women sly through the streets dodging barked insults, and on the gates of the Bastille black paint scrawls out slogans of the coming “future”.

All the while a stench is corrupting the air, the populace’s clothing, skin, and food.  The cemetery of Les Innocents is overflowing. The walls, which enclose the cemetery’s burial grounds and abandoned church, are threatening to burst. 

Jean-Bapiste Baratte, a young provincial engineer, has been entrusted with the heavy task of the demolition of the cemetery. 1785 will be a year which changes him.

 “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…”

From the cobwebbed corners of the church attic, the barren landscape of the Valenciennes mines to the static country air of Jean-Bapiste’s hometown, Andrew Miller delivers an interesting cast of decaying and forgotten characters. Characters who are in a constant state of waiting. “History”, utters the church organist, “has been choking us long enough.” 

The demolition of Les Innocents is the project that promises to purify the clogged air and pave the way for the future. Yet the task is a burden those who are entrusted to it and for some the source of their destruction.

Pure is a fluent and imaginatively delectable read. Andrew Miller’s smooth writing style places you in the heart of Paris. His simplest of sentences are constructed with a colour and clear understanding of the flaws of humanity. This is the first book by him I have read and I will definitely seek out his other works. 

Pure is loosely based on the removal of the cemetery in the late 1780’s. The cemetery of Les Innocents was completely destroyed, and nothing can be seen today of the site except a small square near Les Halles. The bones, however can be viewed on the Catacombs of Paris. 

On my recent trip to Paris the Catacombs were closed. Instead I visited Pere-Lachaise, the now largest cemetery in Paris, and the final resting place of Oscar Wilde. The tomb needed restoration in 2011, after continued damage caused to it by lipstick-kisses from visiting tourists. The modernist angel design is now protected by a glass box which is now covered in lipstick-kisses and quotes from fans.

I would definitely recommend visiting the Pere-Lachaise, it is like a city within a city, and if you go early it can be a nice quiet before visiting tourist hotspots like the Lourve.