Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

A wonderful story about ethics, the ability to change for the better, no matter your history or past.  Hugo places Jean Valjean's story of redemption with the contest of a gritty, revolutionary Paris, exposing the cruelties of its justice system.

Valjean serves 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, meets a priest who befriends and challenges him to turn his life around.

And he does.  But even a redeemed man makes mistakes, and after playing a critical role in the demise and death of Fantine, he spends the rest of his live making amends by raising his daughter Cosette, who also would have languished in a life of poverty without his intervention.

Valjean spends the rest of his life avoiding the law (symbolized by the persistent police detective Javert) while doing all he can to bring joy to Cosette.

His life ends in desperation, separated from his Cosette, until the very final minutes of his life, when his redemption is complete.

I loved the book, albeit skipping past vast sections on politics, architecture and a number of chapters on Paris' sewer system (!).

Once again, the use of LitCharts provided me with a deeper understanding of the book than I would have understood on my own.