Set in the Parisian underworld of the early nineteenth century, Les Misrablesfollows the adventures of Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who spent nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened and bitter criminal upon his release, Valjean is transformed when an act of compassion by a priest he robbed saves him from returning to prison. Changing his ways, he becomes a successful industrialist and town mayor, raising the orphaned daughter of a prostitute as his own. Yet Valjean is still haunted by his past and pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert, who does not believe in moral redemption.