Les Misérables

This is the original novel by Victor Hugo that has been so famously adapted as a stage musical. Les Miserables follows the life of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his struggle for redemption against the backdrop of the wider social and political struggles of France between 1815 and 1832. Examining the nature of law and grace, the novel elaborates upon the history of France, architecture of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Upton Sinclair named Les Miserables "one of the half-dozen greatest novels of the world".