Book Club Special: The Costa Book Of The Year

January is peak season for readers. At the start of the new year, staying in becomes the new going out, and the dreary weather lends itself to curling up with a good book. The only trouble comes in deciding what to read. Do you head to the sales to pick up last year’s bestsellers for a song, or do you wait patiently for the new releases?

This week, Costa took the deliberation out of the book-buying process by announcing the winner of the Costa Book Of The Year Award. If you’re anything like us, you’ll be running out this weekend to get your hands on Andrew Miller’s Pure. And if you’re buying blind, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to.

Set in pre-revolutionary Paris in 1785, Pure is the story of Jean-Baptiste Baratte, an ambitious young engineer, who is assigned the task of emptying the noxious, overflowing Parisian cemetery, Les Innocents, and of demolishing its church.

At first Baratte sees his task as a chance to clear the burden of history. He believes it’s a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own.

Critics have compared the quality of Pure to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. They’ve lauded it because it’s a work of historical fiction that doesn’t advertise its research. The everyman, meanwhile, has fallen for its flow and ability to entertain.

Let us know what you think…