Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a Gothic masterpiece set in 15th-century Paris, following the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo's love for the beautiful Romani dancer Esmeralda. Through the tragic story involving the obsessed priest Frollo and the cathedral itself as a character, Hugo explores beauty, obsession, and social outcasts. This Everyman's Library edition becomes both historical epic and meditation on architecture, proving that Hugo wrote Notre-Dame Cathedral into immortality and that some love stories are doomed from the start.

WHY WE PICKED IT: Because Hugo wrote the novel that made Notre-Dame Cathedral famous, creating characters whose tragedy is inseparable from the building itself. This edition reminds us that Quasimodo's love for Esmeralda is heartbreaking, that Frollo's obsession is terrifying, and that Hugo's descriptions of medieval Paris are magnificent.

DETAILS: • Author: Victor Hugo • Introduction: Jean-Marc Hovasse • Publisher: Everyman's Library • Format: Hardcover • Publication Date: February 7, 2012 • ISBN: 9780307957818 • Ships direct from distributor in 3–7 business days