Pure by Andrew Miller

On a lovely sunny evening 7 of us sat in the garden, drinking chilled white wine, nibbling cheese and discussing the grotesque ‘goings on’ in a redundant 18^th Century Parisian Cemetery just before the French Revolution.

The evening summer garden sights, sounds and smells were a far cry from the smell of death and the ghastly gases, that Andrew Miller so eloquently enabled us to imagine while reading, 

We liked the book. From reviews and recommendations it may come as surprise to hear that our response wasn't ‘gushing’ with enthusiasm or excitement. But we did really like it. For a book group this is a good read: there is plenty to reflect upon in the story and the quality of the writing keeps a reader going.

It is a beautifully written book and Andrew Miller has the ability to write descriptions that draw the reader into the scene and situation.

The story takes a while to get going, it is a bit drawn out and one member of our group admitted that she ‘just couldn't wait for it to stop’. That said the story carries the reader along, you want to know what happens next, you are waiting for the twist, wanting to know more about each of the characters and, ultimately, you are dying to find out whether the task is achieved.   

When reflecting on the characters we realised that so many people, representing so many different facets of French society at the time, had been introduced to us. All were a little mad which is not surprising given their situation and surroundings. From these the people who most stand out are:

• Jeanne - a young girl so good and kind - she epitomises her home at Les Innocents and the book title.
• Heloise – a prostitute who is just not what you expect.
• Andre – who could have tipped the balance for Jean-Baptiste (the lead character) but didn’t and was probably more preoccupied with his gang of revolutionaries and their activities.
• Dr Guillotin – some of us were surprised to have met someone of such notoriety!
• Jan Block – for loving Jeanne as much as we did.

Above all we were all pleased about how things turned out for the young engineer, Jean-Baptiste.

We did all wonder if the places in the book, and the actions taken at Les Innocents are in any part true? Perhaps someone can enlighten us at our next meeting. 

Would we recommend this book? Yes. This is a book to talk about with friends.

Our next book is The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. We will return to The HUNDRED of Ashendon (formerly the Gatehangers' Inn) to discuss this book on THURSDAY 12th September at 8pm. Mary has kindly offered to 'host'.