Welsh author Ken Follett has offered the full copyright of his story "Notre-Dame", published after the fire of April 15, 2019, to restore the cathedral of Dol-de-Bretagne.

A gift of up to 148,000 euros.

Guest from Europe 1, he explains why he chose to help this building in particular. 

INTERVIEW

The mayor of Dol-de-Bretagne, Denis Rapinel, speaks of a "Christmas in March".

And for good reason, the Heritage Foundation announced Monday that the famous Welsh writer Ken Follet has offered the full copyright of his story "Notre-Dame", published after the fire of April 15, 2019, to restore the Cathedral of Dol-de-Bretagne.

A gift of 148,000 euros which will soon arrive in the town hall's cash registers.

Guest of Europe Morning Wednesday, Ken Follett, explains why he decided to make this donation. 

A "special" cathedral

Upset by the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, like many people around the world, Ken Follett first wanted to donate his copyright for the restoration of the "old lady".

But faced with the influx of donations, around one billion euros, collected in a few days, the successful author says to himself that "that will be enough".

But his publisher, Robert Laffont, spoke to him about the Heritage Foundation and its role with many old buildings.

But if Ken Follett decided to specifically help this cathedral, it is because it is "special".

"It is entirely built in a coherent style", the Gothic, advances the author, which recalls that for many cathedrals, the site stopped 40 or 50 years because of the lack of money.

And this is felt in the final architecture, especially for Notre-Dame-de-Paris, since between the shutdown of the site and its resumption, the style had evolved.

And if this mixture is "charming", Ken Follett still finds that "it is more beautiful when the style is coherent". 

2.5 million euros needed for the renovation

"When you look at a cathedral, you wonder why the people of the Middle Ages wanted to build it," he continues.

"It is very big, difficult to build and very expensive, when the people were poor and their houses made of wood. But it says something about humanity: when we are in difficult circumstances, with a violent life and poor, the human being wants to create something that remains beautiful despite the passage of time. And that is quite incredible. "

Still, the donation of Ken Follett is far from being sufficient to completely renovate the cathedral of Dol-de-Bretagne: indeed no less than 2.5 million are needed.

But "this is the first installment," warns the author.

"I hope the book [the 'Notre Dame' story] will continue to sell and that I could still donate."

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

A cathedral Ken Follett has never seen

Surprisingly, because of the pandemic, Ken Follett never had the opportunity to see the cathedral of Dol-de-Bretagne with his own eyes.

So he is very anxious to be able to do it as soon as possible.

Especially since Dol-de-Bretagne could be a source of inspiration for the author, who has already written on cathedrals.

"Maybe he will find another story to tell about the city called Dol-la-Mystérieuse", hopes in any case on his side Xavier Coadic, the deputy of the town in charge of Heritage and Tourism .

"In the past, Dol has had" a very rich history, "he recalls.

But while waiting for a possible next plot in the streets of Dol-de-Bretagne, Ken Follett will publish in November his next thriller, "Never".