The Hunchback of Notre Dame
by Victor Hugo
Set in medieval Paris, Victor Hugo's powerful historical novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, has resonated with subsequent generations since its publication in 1837. It tells the story of Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy who was convicted as a witch by the weary patriarch Claude Frollo, who desired her. Quasimodo, the deformed bellbell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, falls in love with the kind-hearted Esmeralda and tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral's tower. When a crowd of Parisian peasants, not understanding Quasimodo's motives, attack the church to liberate it, the story ends in tragedy.
