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The Hunchback of Notre Dame
By: Victor Hugo
Contrary to popular opinion the novel Le Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo is not primarily about the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo. Quasimodo's role is actually surprisingly small in the story, which makes you wonder why the English translater's chose 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' as the translation for the title. Actually, as the original French title would indicate, it is the cathedral itself that is the focus of the book. This is why in the unabridged editions of this book you will find numerous chapters that seemingly have nothing to do with the plot of the story. This is the books weakest point, and it may turn many people away from the book. Once you get into the plot, however, it is iimpossible to put the book down. The characters are intriguing: composer Pierre Gringoire, archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, once a paragon of virtue now tormented by his corrupt love for a gipsy girl, L'Esmerelda, the naive gipsy dancer, Phoebus, the selfish, egotistical captain of the guards, and of course Qausimodo, a deaf, deformed bellringer. The relationships between these characters are complex and dark but they make an unforgettable story. The story is never, from front to back, a happy one, so if you are looking for a book that makes you 'feel good' this is not the one for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a good book to read, that is unafraid to deal with the darker side of reality, I highly recommend 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.'
Courtesy Gerry T. Neal
This book was contributed by Kate Halleron.

Sometimes you have to blow your own horn. I not only publish books but I write them.
These two books are not found on this web site but on Amazon - because I am
selling them for Kindle and in a paperback format
to help provide income in my retirement.
Please support this site by buying my books. Thanks!

Fancy
Eighty-two year old Frances Smith, known as Fancy, is suffering from senile dementia. She doesn’t know it; neither does her family. Ten of her younger years were consumed with her love for Carlos, a man who worked on her father’s farm. Their love blossomed and grew until one fateful day.

As an old woman, Fancy spends more and more time in her past, through both her dementia and her conscious remembrances of Carlos. She remembers how they loved to dance at fire halls and other dances. She constantly asks him when they will once again dance. His reply is always the same, “Soon my love.”

All the while her family tries to come to grips with her dementia.

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Centerville
Sheriff John Shambach is consumed with the tragedies happening, without rhyme or reason, in the nearby village of Centerville. While he tries to track down the murderer of little Betsy Smith, two teenagers, Jimmy Harris and Ben Snyder, who live in the village, are well on the way of discovering who this evil monster is. They discover who was responsible for the horrible events at the Firemen’s Carnival, where Betsy Smith was brutally murdered and another girl attacked and nearly raped. They piece together the clues to what actually happened to Patrick Marks and why his pants were on backwards. And why he was found down a well. Through this summer of horror they unearth the facts that the sheriff is unable find and they identify the serial killer in their midst. How does a small insular society cope with tragedy after tragedy in that hot summer? Twenty years pass and now Ben Snyder is a detective deputy sheriff in the same quiet central Pennsylvania area where he grew up. The peacefulness in Centerville is shattered by the murder of an elderly woman who is confined to a wheelchair. Ben finds it suspicious that the woman is found in the cellar with her wheelchair but the wheelchair is too wide to fit through the doorway. Not long after that a local Mennonite girl is brutally murdered and Ben struggles with the few clues to solve either case. A sudden revelation opens things up and leads him back to his own childhood and the horrible events of the summer of 1955.
This is an expanded edition combining Watermelon Summer and Ben's Story into one volume.
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