And Notre Dame is Burning

Miriam Robinson

'A beautifully wrought, thought-provoking novel from a thrilling new voice in literary fiction' Charlotte Heathcote, Mail on Sunday

'Stunning' Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour

'Miriam Robinson is an incredible writer and this is an astounding debut' Nina Pottell, Prima Magazine

'This page-turning novel [is] a beacon of hope, as its heroine discovers new ways of living - and of becoming herself' Erica Wagner, Harper's Bazaar

'Robinson's debut is exceptional . . . In writing Esther, she has beautifully captured some of the universal aspects of womanhood' Katie Fraser, The Bookseller

Esther's marriage begins, and ends, in the shadow of Notre Dame cathedral.

Now, time has flattened.

Sifting through the ashes of their years together, Esther finds a litany of feelings and memories that no longer make sense, offer no comfort, and that she cannot trust.

Esther seeks help - from generations of women, books, a philosopher, from her own mother - but mostly, she writes. Fragments, notes, letters. Esther writes, and rewrites, until time slowly takes shape again.

Miriam Robinson's powerful debut is an excavation of betrayal, motherhood, guilt and consequence; of love coming to an end. Told with wit, empathy and startling ferocity, And Notre Dame is Burning is a novel of wounds and of healing.