Notre-Dame de Paris

<b>More commonly known as <i>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</i> Victor Hugo's Romantic novel of dark passions and unrequited love</b> <p/>In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral lives Quasimodo the hunchbacked bellringer. Mocked and shunned for his appearance he is pitied only by Esmeralda a beautiful gypsy dancer to whom he becomes completely devoted. Esmeralda however has also attracted the attention of the sinister archdeacon Claude Frollo and when she rejects his lecherous approaches Frollo hatches a plot to destroy her that only Quasimodo can prevent. Victor Hugo's sensational evocative novel brings life to the medieval Paris he loved and mourns its passing in one of the greatest historical romances of the nineteenth century. <p/>John Sturrock's clear contemporary translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing it as a passionate novel of ideas written in defence of Gothic architecture and of a burgeoning democracy and demonstrating that an ugly exterior can conceal moral beauty. This revised edition also includes further reading and a chronology of Hugo's life. <p/>For more than seventy years Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1700 titles Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.