Romantic novel written by the French novelist Victor Hugo. The story takes place in France during a period of twenty years in the early nineteenth century during the Napoleonic Wars. The protagonist an ex-convict named Jean Valjean, struggles to redeem himself. The work reflects on the good and evil showing the history of France and its social context. Victor Hugo is inspired by Eugène François Vidocq, a delinquent who ended up being a policeman and creator of the French Sûreté Nationale, for the creation of the two main characters of the novel.