The West Façade
Santa Fe Writer’s Project, March 3, 2026
A cathedral statue discovers what it means to be human, then faces an impossible choice…
In Paris, at the dawn of the Bubonic Plague, the statues that guard the Notre Dame Cathedral are forbidden from experiencing human pleasures—even on The Wakenings, the one night of life they receive each month on the new moon in exchange for protecting the cathedral. But the statue of Sainte Geneviève’s quiet existence changes irrevocably when a grieving woman places a citrus fruit in her hands as an offering—an offering Geneviève can’t resist eating.
Eating awakens Geneviève to her desires: To climb down the wall, to explore Paris, to understand her human makers, and to love. Geneviève wants to be more than an object on a cathedral wall.
She wants to live for herself. But when Geneviève gets what she wants, she must choose between remaining human and accepting mortality or returning to the cathedral, where she will become a statue again and spend eternity watching others live.
Advanced Praise
“Imaginative and immersive, The West Façade is a sensuous fairy tale all about the delights and horrors of the human body. I will never look at statues the same way again.”
—Rita Chang-Eppig, author of Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea
“Luscious and strange, The West Façade captivates with statues and gargoyles struggling to ‘resist gross, fleshy impulses.’ And thankfully failing. Lauren C. Johnson crafts a visceral, detailed novel about being alive.”
—Tomas Moniz, author of All Friends Are Necessary
"Lauren C. Johnson’s The West Façade is an insightful meditation on what it means to be alive. The characters—both those made of limestone and those made of flesh—long for experience and friendship and community and love. Johnson shows us humans and statues at their best and at their worst, set against the tumultuous backdrop of plague-ridden Paris. A beautiful novel.”
—Cari Luna, author of The Revolution of Every Day