The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Hugo wrote it to save the famous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame from demolition.

During the Revolution Notre Dame had been used as a saltpetre plant. By the nineteenth century it had suffered so much neglect that builders wanted to reuse its stones for bridge construction.

Gothic art was then regarded as ugly and offensive; so Hugo’s choice of the location was deliberate: it linked the grotesque characters with the ugly art.

The first three chapters of the novel are a plea to preserve Gothic architecture—in Hugo’s words, a “gigantic book of stone,” which he, as a Romantic, found beautiful.

Anna and I were talking about meeting in Paris, to take little Reed to Notre Dame..... My last trip to Paris had me walking from Madeleine in the 8th Arrondissement, where my hotel was, across the Place de la Concorde, down the Champs Elysees, along the banks of the Seine to the Cathedral, finishing up at a cafe across from Notre Dame and sharing a bottle of red wine with some locals..........   Gazing up at Notre Dame in all her Gothic Glory......

Then there was the fire....