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Sign up todayThe Cleaner of Chartres
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThere is something very special about Agn├¿s Morel. A quiet presence in the small French town of Chartres, she can be found cleaning the famed medieval cathedral each morning and doing odd jobs for the townspeople. No one knows where she came from or why. Not Abb├® Paul, who discovered her one morning twenty years ago, sleeping on the north porch, and not Alain Fleury, the irreverent young restorer who works alongside her each day—and whose attention she catches with her tawny eyes and elusive manner. She has transformed each of their lives in her own subtle way, yet no one suspects the dark secret Agn├¿s is hiding.
When an accidental encounter dredges up a series of tragic incidents from Agnès' youth, the nasty meddling of town gossips threatens to upend the woman's simple, peaceful life. Her story reveals a terrible loss, a case of mistaken identity, and a cruel and violent act that haunts her past. Agnès wrestles with her own sense of guilt and enduring heartbreak while the citizens piece together the truth about her life.
Salley Vickers is the author of the word-of-mouth bestseller Miss Garnet’s Angel and several other bestselling novels, including Mr. Golightly’s Holiday, The Other Side of You, and Dancing Backwards, as well as the collection of short stories Aphrodite’s Hat. She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. She is currently a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge, and divides her time between Cambridge and London.
Pamela Garelick was born in England. She acted in fringe theater there before coming to the United States, where she has worked as a voice-over artist in television and radio and as an audiobook narrator. Now living and working in Greece, she records, translates, and edits voice-overs from all over the world as well as narrating audiobooks in a small studio in her Mediterranean garden. She also paints silk clothing, bakes for the local cafés, and teaches newcomers the Greek language.
Reviews
“Subtle and utterly joyous…a contemporary moral and psychological drama every bit as absorbing as Miss Garnet’s Angel.”
“If you’re looking for a book to take you by surprise, Salley Vickers’ latest is the perfect choice.”
“Never ponderous, The Cleaner of Chartres touches lightly but knowingly on the seedy side of human nature. Up against Agnès' fairytale goodness, the other characters huddle like the ramshackle domestic buildings that once filled the medieval streets surrounding the cathedral on its hilltop.”
“A magical and at times sinister story about love, loss, secrets, and forgiveness…with Chocolat-type charm.”
“The evocative setting adds a timeless quality to this narrative, and Vickers reminds us that the past cannot remain entirely in the past…Fans of well-crafted, psychological fiction will relish how the layers of consciousness of these complex characters are revealed chapter by chapter.”
“Through the viewpoints of the various characters and in flashbacks to her troubled past, the reader learns of Agnès’ depth and strength and the feelings that she so easily arouses in others. With a deft hand, Vickers shows us the layers of human need—to be loved, accepted, and believed—and wraps it in a structure as intricate as the cathedral itself.”
“Vickers’ story features simple characters and an uncomplicated, even predictable story line while exploring deeper themes of parenting, sin, and guilt before reaching a sweet, neat conclusion. A skillful miniature psychodrama delivered with humor and knowing restraint.”
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