The Secret Life of a Cemetery

by Benoît Gallot

ISBN: 9781778401589

Published: 2025-04-29

From the head curator of the most famous cemetery in the world--a moving story about a place where joy, grief, and wild nature converge in unexpected and inspiring ways. "Père-Lachaise in Paris, whose tombs of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf and many other artistic icons have made it a popular tourist draw, has become a haven for wildlife."--from the New York Times profile of author Benoît Gallot For Benoît Gallot, Père Lachaise is best explored without a guide: You're guaranteed to lose your way. You'll feel as though you've stepped out of time, out of Paris, and into another place entirely. In his debut memoir, Gallot, head curator of Père Lachaise and son of a grave stonemason, pulls back the curtains on his otherworldly workplace--a cemetery crammed with tourists in the high season and mourners year round, but also a natural paradise, where foxes roam, birds flit between trees, and wildflowers and moss encroach onto tombstones. In elegant, engrossing chapters, Gallot...