Salley Vickers

Working as a cleaner in the famed medieval cathedral of Chartres for more than 20 years, Agnès Morel profoundly transforms local lives by performing small tasks and using her subtle influence until an accidental encounter reveals tragic incidents from her youth, causing her to be targeted by mean-spirited gossips. By the author of the best-selling Miss Garnet's Angel.

A Novel

The Cleaner of Chartres

Antonella Romani

Nice little story, a bit lackluster at times. I really appreciated the style of writing.

Jessica Nottingham

I started out this book a little shaky, since I don't generally read a lot of Historical Fiction. However Agnes soon became a likable enough character that I was engaged. Although this isn't the quickest moving story, and perhaps it has more featured characters than necessary, I still found myself connected enough to Agnes that I wanted to finish this story. Her backstory unfolded a bit at a time and, even though I was fairly sure I knew where things were going, I wanted to see if I was right. I'll give Salley Vickers credit in that she created a very relatable and human character in Agnes. Her mistakes and successes were a beautiful thing.

What kept me from fully falling in love with this book though was how much it hopped back and forth in time, with little to no notice. I listened to the audio version of this, and so it made it even more difficult to get my footing every time we were thrown back to the days of young Agnes. On top of that, as the book neared its end, I felt myself becoming less and less interested in where things were headed. Agnes felt like she stalled in her growth as a person, and then the ending itself was far less than satisfactory. In fact, and this is coming from a reader who is very open minded, the ending left me with some really uncomfortable moral quandaries. I'm still not sure how I feel.

So, for a plot that kept my attention for the most part, a character whom I did enjoy, and a narrator who did a fairly good job, I'll give this two stars. I finished this book, and it was interesting journey. I just wouldn't read it again.

Melissa Railey

Sara Holman

'A lovely book . . . wise at heart and filled with colourful characters' Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat A beautifully beguiling new novel from Salley Vickers, author of the bestselling Miss Garnet's Angel and winner of the 2007 IMPAC Dublin award. There is something special about the ancient cathedral in Chartres, with its mismatched spires and strange labyrinth. And there is something special too about Agnès Morel, the mysterious woman who is to be found cleaning it each morning. No one quite knows where she came from - not the diffident Abbé Paul, who discovered her one morning twenty years ago, sleeping in the north porch; nor lonely Professor Jones, who pays her to tidy his chaotic house; nor Philippe Nevers, whose baby nephew she cares for. And yet everyone she encounters would surely agree that she has touched their lives in subtly transformative ways. But with a chance meeting in the cathedral one day, the spectre of Agnès' past returns, provoking malicious speculation from the local gossips. As the rumours grow uglier daily, Agnès is forced to confront her history and the mystery her origins finally unfolds. The Cleaner of Chartres is a compelling story of darkness and light; of traumatic loss and second chances. Told with a beguiling charm and wit, infused throughout with painful emotional truths, it speaks of the transformative power of love and mercy. 'Salley Vickers is a novelist whose imaginative journey always promises magic and mystery. The Cleaner of Chartres shows her on top form in a rich weave of loss and redemption spiked with Ms Vickers' irrepressible wit' Robert McCrum, Observer 'With its subtle combination of explorations of faith and love, The Cleaner of Chartres is something of a return to the terrain of Vickers's first novel, Miss Garnet's Angel. Certainly, it's another gem' Independent 'Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand and she knows how the world works. She's a presence worth cherishing' Philip Pullman 'Reveals itself as a surprising exploration of the mysteries of imagination and faith' Joanna Trollope, Book of the Year, Daily Telegraph 'Rich, complex and haunting' Sunday Times 'Subtle and utterly joyous...a contemporary moral and psychological drama every bit as absorbing as Miss Garnet's Angel' Sunday Times 'A magical and at times sinister story about love, loss, secrets and forgiveness...with Chocolat-type charm' Scotland on Sunday 'The Cleaner of Chartres is a return to form' Sunday Express 'Combining grace with gravity and wisdom with wit, this latest novel by Salley Vickers simply radiates soul' Red 'If you're looking for a book to take you by surprise, Salley Vickers' latest is the perfect choice' Psychologies Salley Vickers is the author of the word-of-mouth bestseller Miss Garnet's Angel and several other bestselling novels including Mr Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and Dancing Backwards as well as a collection of short stories Aphrodite's Hat. She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, a university teacher of literature and a psychoanalyst. She is currently a RLF fellow at Newnham College Cambridge and she divides her time between Cambridge and London.

The Cleaner of Chartres A Novel

Reviews