Les Misérables

Les Misérables is a novel by French author Victor Hugo, first published in 1862. One of the longest and most ambitious novels of the nineteenth century, it was an immediate popular sensation and has remained one of the most widely read works of fiction in the world.

The story follows Jean Valjean, a former convict who, after nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, struggles to build a new life while pursued relentlessly by the inspector Javert. Set against the turbulent backdrop of post-revolutionary France, the novel weaves together the fates of Valjean, the tragic Fantine, her daughter Cosette, the street urchin Gavroche, and the idealistic student revolutionaries of the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris.

A monumental work of social conscience, Les Misérables is both an unflinching portrait of poverty and injustice and a deeply hopeful testament to the possibility of redemption. Its celebrated stage musical adaptation has brought Hugo’s story to audiences around the world.