The Secret Life of a Cemetery

Amidst the famous dead, whispers of ghost stories, and wild foxes lives Benoit Gallot, head curator of the world's most storied cemetery in Paris."A paean to the renowned Parisian cemetery, Père Lachaise. As crammed with quirky facts as the 110-acre cemetery is crammed with burial plots"?NPR"A kind of love letter."?Sadie Stein, The New York TimesFor 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, Gall