About the book: Fifty thousand believers and photo-hungry tourists jam into Notre Dame Cathedral on August 15 to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption.
The next morning, a stunningly beautiful young woman clothed all in white kneels at prayer in a cathedral side chapel. But when an American tourist accidentally bumps against her, her body collapses. She has been murdered: the autopsy reveals disturbing details.
Police investigators and priests search for the killer as they discover other truths about guilt and redemption in this soaring Paris refuge for the lost, the damned, and the saved.
The suspect is a disturbed young man obsessed with the Virgin Mary who spends his days hallucinating in front of a Madonna. But someone else knows the true killer of the white-clad daughter of Algerian immigrants.
This thrilling novel illuminates shadowy corners of the world’s most famous cathedral, shedding light on good and evil with suspense, compassion, and wry humour.
The Madonna of Notre Dame (2013) is translated from the French, La Madone de Notre-Dame, by Katherine Gregor.
About the author: Playwright and then novelist, Alexis Ragougneau made a remarkable entrance into the literary world with two detective novels: La Madone de Notre-Dame (2014) and Évangile pour un gueux (2016). He then devoted himself more freely to novel creation with Niels (in the running for the Prix Goncourt 2017) and Opus 77 (finalist for the Femina 2019). A key voice in contemporary French literature, his books are acclaimed by booksellers and have been translated into many languages.
About the translator: Katherine Gregor is a British translator and writer. She has translated Italian classics, such as Luigi Pirandello and Carlo Goldoni, and Francesca Melandri, Stefania Auci and Alberto Angela among contemporary authors. She was born in Rome, where she lived on and off for twelve years, spending six years also in France before moving to England in 1988. She is currently based in Norwich. She translates from Italian and French, writes plays and fiction of her own and the blog Scribe Doll (https://scribedoll.com). She also created and wrote for two years the monthly column The Italianist (http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/tag/katherine-gregor/), which focuses on Italian books not yet translated into English.
Rating: 5/5
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