Andrew Miller - Pure

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 1 of 10: A young engineer from Normandy waits in an anteroom in the Palace of Versailles for a meeting with the minister.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Paris 1785, and a young engineer waits in the Palace of Versailles.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne.

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 2 of 10: For the first time in daylight, Baratte visits the church and the neighbourhood of Les Innocents.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

For the first time in daylight, Baratte visits the church of Les Innocents.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 3 of 10: Accompanied by Jeanne, the sexton's daughter, Baratte makes his first inspection of the cemetery grounds at Les Innocents.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Aided by Jeanne, the sexton's daughter, Baratte makes his first survey of the cemetery.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 4 of 10: Before travelling to Valenciennes to recruit labour, Baratte spends an unusual late night with the organist, Armand.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 5 of 10: In Valenciennes, Baratte meets Lecoeur, a former colleague from his days at the mines, to recruit workers for the excavation of les Innocents.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Baratte meets an old friend to recruit workers for the excavation.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 6 of 10: The first spades cut the ground of the cemetery, but the miners' digging disturbs more than the earth.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

The first spades cut the cemetery ground, but the digging disturbs more than the earth.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 7 of 10: Still recovering from the attack in his bedroom, Baratte starts to make some changes.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 8 of 10: To the consternation of those around him, Baratte asks Heloise Godard to move in with him.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 9 of 10: Following the rape, Lecoeur is hiding in the charnels of Les Innocents. He Has a pistol. Armed with only a spade, Baratte goes looking for him.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

Following the rape, Lecoeur is hiding with a pistol in the charnels of Les Innocents.

Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Read by John Sessions.

It's Paris in 1785. The cemetery of Les Innocents is the oldest in the city, but it is overflowing and can no longer hold on to its dead. Newcomers to the quarter are overpowered by the smell. It taints the breath and food of the locals. And some believe it can even taint the mind.

By order of the King, the church and cemetery are to be destroyed and every last bone rehoused. The place is to be made sweet again. It shall be made pure.

Charged with the task, Jean-Baptiste Baratte - a young engineer from Normandy - arrives in Paris. And thus begins A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of ... chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love...A year unlike any other he has lived.

Episode 10 of 10: The miners have built a pyre for their dead comrade and hold a vigil in the ruins of the church.

Andrew Miller was born in Bristol. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991 and finished a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1995. He lives in Somerset.

His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). His third, Oxygen (2001), was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award. One Morning Like A Bird (2008) was also produced by Sweet Talk for Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.

Pure is Andrew Miller's sixth novel and won the Costa Book Of The Year award in 2011.

Produced by Rosalynd Ward

The miners build a pyre for their dead comrade and hold a vigil in the ruins of the church