The Hunchback of Notre Dame

By: Victor Hugo

Narrated by: Andrew Sachs

The classic tale with an introduction and notes by Keith Wren, University of Kent at Canterbury.

Set in 1482, Victor Hugo's powerful novel of imagination, caprice, and fantasy is a meditation on love, fate, architecture, and politics, as well as a compelling recreation of the medieval world at the dawn of the modern age. In a brilliant reworking of the tale of Beauty and the Beast, Hugo creates a host of unforgettable characters, amongst them Quasimodo, the hunchback of the title, hopelessly in love with the gypsy girl Esmeralda; the satanic priest Claude Frollo; Clopin Trouillefou, king of the beggars; and Louis XI, King of France.

Over the course of the novel - both literally and symbolically - broods the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Vivid characters and memorable set-piece action scenes combine to bring the past to life in this story of love, lust, betrayal, doom, and redemption.

©2010 De Agostini UK (P)2011 Talking Classics