Les Misérables

A vast novel set in France in the decades after Napoleon's fall. It follows Jean Valjean, a man released from years in prison for a petty crime, who tries to build an honest new life while a rigid police inspector, Javert, pursues him. Around them move the child Cosette, the young student Marius and many Parisians of every class. Hugo mixes story with essays on history, law, poverty and faith. It is a powerful appeal for compassion and justice, and one of the most widely loved novels ever written.