Les Misérables is a novel by
Victor Hugo set in
Paris,
France. It has been filmed many times and also created as a musical by Boubil and Schoenberg.
The basic plot:
Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread, is released from jail 19 years later, breaks his parole, and is hounded for years by a sociopath named
Javert. Along the way, he picks up a daughter and assists in the uprising of 1832, which fails miserably. Then he dies.
The romantic-type characters in this story are
Marius Pontmercy,
Cosette, and
Eponine. Marius and Cosette are the only ones who live through the entire story. They are just too annoying to die.