WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD (2011)br/>br/>A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of mummified corpses and chanting priests.br/>br/>A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...br/>br/>A year unlike any other he has lived.br/>br/>Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it.br/>br/>At first Baratte sees this 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 his own.