Orem Library

Set against the background of political upheaval in France following the rule of Napoleon I, the novel tells the story of the peasant Jean Valjean, a convict struggling to escape his past and on the run, hunted by Inspector Javert, a police agent with a ruthless conscience. Their world encompasses a broad section of the outcasts, rejects and rebels of early 19th-century French society, as events take in a tour of the city's sewers, the battle of Waterloo...

Though ex-convict Jean Valjean tries to rebuild his life to be a respectable citizen, police inspector Javert relentlessly hounds him and won't let him escape his past.

Les Miserables is the great epic masterpiece of the mid-nineteenth century. Begun in 1845, the year Louis Philippe conferred a peerage and a lifetime seat in the Senate upon Victor Hugo, it was completed when the author was living in exile in the Channel Islands. Les Miserables is a product as well as a document of the political, social, and religious upheaval that followed the Napoleonic Wars and Europe's great democratic revolutions....

Jean Valjean is paroled after serving 19 years in prison for stealing some bread. He tries to steal silverware from a missionary, but is set straight by a bishop. Nine years later, Valjean is now a wealthy industrialist and mayor. He eventually befriends Fantine, a single mother turned prostitute and risks all when he helps her after she's nearly arrested by police officer Javert. Javert was a guard at the prison Valjean was in and is suspicious that...

Victor Hugo's towering novel of Jean Valjean, his unjust imprisonment, and his lifelong flight from a relentless police officer.

Trying to forget his past and live an honest life, escaped convict Jean Valjean risks his freedom to take care of a motherless young girl during a period of political unrest in Paris.

Against the backdrop of France at a time of civil unrest, this is the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict unable to escape his past life. His future is threatened by his nemesis, the chilling police officer and former prison guard Javert, who is determined to bring him to justice. As revolution ignites on the streets of Paris, Jean Valjean begins an epic journey towards self-acceptance, redemption, and love.