Les Miserables
A man imprisoned for stealing bread spends his life trying to become good. The law spends its life trying to stop him.
The Relentless Pursuit
Victor Hugo's 1862 masterpiece follows Jean Valjean, released after nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and attempting to escape. Shown mercy by a bishop, he breaks parole, assumes a new identity, and becomes a factory owner and mayor. But Inspector Javert, who lives for the law itself, never stops looking. The novel weaves in Fantine, Cosette, Marius, and the barricades of 1832 to create the fullest portrait of social injustice in the French literary tradition.
Reading Les Miserables
Conviction
/
Volume
"To love another person is to see the face of God.
"Victor Hugo · Les Miserables
Hugo wrote Les Miserables over a period of seventeen years, often in exile. He reportedly sent his publisher a proof with only a question mark, and received back an exclamation point — both men knew the book would be enormous.
The 1980 stage musical became one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history. The 2012 film adaptation with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway won three Academy Awards.