Victor Hugo 
Les Miserables 

Considered to be French novelist Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Miserables, which was published in 1862, is a sprawling historical and philosophical epic that covers from 1815 through the Paris Uprising in 1832. Notable for its many subplots and digressions from the main storyline, the novel’s stated aim is a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, which can be seen most clearly in the story of the central character Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who struggles to shake the sins of his past and become a good man. Widely adapted, the novel inspired the blockbuster musical and movie colloquially known as Les Mis. This is the unabridged 1887 Isabel F. Hapgood translation.

About the author

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romanticism movement. He is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time. Outside of France, his best-known works are the novels Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In France, he is known primarily for his poetry collections. During his lifetime, he produced more than 4, 000 drawings and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.