Lauren C. Johnson, holds a B.S. in Journalism from Emerson College and an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. Her work has appeared in the Orion and The Rumpus. She is the co-host of Babylon Salon, one of the Bay Area’s longest-running literary and performance series, and the co-founder of Club Chicxulub.

Today, we’re discussing her haunting new novel, “The West Facade.” Set during the plague in Paris, the story begins high above the city walls at Notre Dame Cathedral, where statues stand frozen as centuries pass below them. In an act of grief and devotion, a mourning woman places a citrus fruit into the hands of Sainte Geneviève, and that single offering changes everything.

But freedom comes with a devastating cost. To remain human is to accept mortality, decay, and death. To return to the cathedral is to surr ...