Les Miserables read-a-long 2026 | Première Partie (1)

The Radio 3 doc explained a bit about Hugo’s private life (no spoilers) leading up to the writing of Les Mis.

He and his wife had four children at which point she decided she didn’t want any more babies (fair enough) so they stopped sleeping together. He started seeing his life long mistress Juliette Drouet (almost a second wife really). His wife Adele did have a long liaison with someone else (famous, I forget who). (I wonder if she figured out contraception?) Hugo (being a massive womaniser) also at the same time took up with the wife of one of his friends, who was a well known artist. The wife was called Léonie, I think. The artist sort of put up with it for a while but it became apparent that his wife was actually in love with Hugo, at which point he reported them to the police, as at that time adultery was an arrestable offence. The police caught them in flagrante and Léonie actually went to prison. Can you imagine? There was a type of prison for women who had sex outside marriage, and prostitutes.

Needless to say, Hugo did not go to prison. He was a Peer of France, sitting in their upper house, and was thus immune from prosecution. He was told by his friends to lie low and not speak to the press because it was a big scandal. Apparently he felt very guilty.

He came out of this period of hiding by making a big speech in parliament about poverty - « La misère » - and it was around this time that he started writing the book (mid 1840s).

The documentary didn’t mention what happened to Léonie after that.

Thank you, @Pashazade. 'Lovely Ladies' does sound like a bleak contrast between their past and present lives. Hugo points out that Fantine is still beautiful, however.

The only upside to that cruel act was that Fantine met Maire Madeleine.

lol @Neitherherenorthere that would have been an interesting version! @FuzzyCaoraDhubh the bit about someone else being mistaken for Jean Val Jean doesn’t get a song. Fantine being sucked into prostitution and then being saved by JVJ does, the song is called Lovely Ladies and is terribly bleak to a jaunty tune. Obvs a very deliberate juxtaposition.

I'm on track again having had to read a few chapters to catch up.

Hugo led me to believe that Javert might be merciful to Fantine because all the decision-making lay with him but I forgot the type of man he was....

Then I thought that it was all over for Fantine when he sentenced her to six months.

Now I worry for M Madeleine.

Really enjoying this!

That’s exactly how I was thinking it 😄

To the tune of ‘Do you hear the people sing…’

🎵🎶 “Well he’s doing, the right thing,
Saving the fate of unlucky men,
It is the music of a man
who won’t be dishonest ever again’🎶🎵

Bit forced but I can’t concentrate as my husband is playing guitar badly next to me atm 🤣

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Longer chapter today. JV certainly kept his cool with Javert as he waffled on.

The physiognomy stuff gets a bit distracting, knowing as we do that it was entirely discredited many, many years ago. For Hugo it was still a science.

Going back to Fantine, I read today that Hugo actually saw a man put snow down a woman’s dress in real life and went to the police station to go on the record as a witness. Like Fantine, the woman had fought back but Hugo had seen that it was the man that had started it.

So a real incident appears to be the inspiration for that scene.

(It was risky for Hugo’s reputation to speak up for the woman. She may have been a prostitute and his motivation would have been questioned. Apparently only 3 days earlier he became a member of the ‘Académie Française’)

Is it in the musical? Anyone know?

🎵🎶 He's going to do the right thing again, isn't he? 🎵🎶

You made me laugh with that comment @DuPainDuVinDuFromage 🤣 I imagined it said in a tired sing song type tone 🤣

It’s a cliff hanger!

As an aside today I listened to an old Radio 3 documentary about Hugo, which described the writing process for Les Mis. Very interesting indeed but I can’t post it as it does have some spoilers. I will try to remember when we reach the point in the book (about 1/3 they said) and then we will be able to discuss it.

The presenter did annoy me a bit though as she was very breathless about « discovering » all the history rather than just telling the bloody story.

Yes, very unexpected but....

I don't think he is going to do the right thing... I mean, his huge change in character means he should but i don't know that he will as he's basically going to be able to remove any and all suspicion from himself.

But, as you can probably tell from previous comments, I'm not always convinced the 'good' people are actually good underneath and Jean Valjean was a bit of a scoundrel 😁

I saw nothing! By the way, I'm only guessing what might happen next.

He's going to do the right thing again and Fantine will run out of time :(
Yes, that was unexpected!

Well that’s not what I was expecting from today’s chapter! He’s going to go and do the right thing again, isn’t he?

He and his wife are so horrible aren’t they! Frustrating that Valjean was so trusting and free with his money, instead of going straight off to get Cosette. And it looks like his time is running out thanks to Javert 🙁

From today’s reading I have to say Thenardier is the ultimate CF! 😔 How does he dare?

Yes! Although Javert does not come across as someone to be crossed, even by the maire!

I liked two sentences today.

‘She felt the dissolution and dispersal inside her of the frightful shades of hatred, and the birth in her heart of something beyond expression, an indefinable warmth that was joy, trust, love.´

And

´…. the heart of a man without feeling cannot be softened’

At last something good has happened 🤣

That’s so sad @Pashazade

So musical lyrics spoiler below, but I’m being endlessly impressed with how well the songs summarise the plot. (If people would rather I didn’t throw the musical in as well please say and I won’t post lyrics again) 🙂. I dreamed a dream essentially summarises Fantine’s life to now, the music really helps to give weight to the emotion of the lyrics but they stand alone very well.
Lovely ladies is a more upbeat number that follows, but is as brutal as Hugo in its depiction of prostitution and in the musical Fantine’s loses her teeth and hair during this number (it’s jarring because the music is upbeat(ish) but the content is grim). Although having read the lyrics all the way through, just now, I realise it covers tomorrow’s chapter as I ended up getting sucked into the story today, so won’t post yet!

I Dreamed a Dream
There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong...

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder...
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...

...the mental image won't leave my head.

Same here. I read it a few days ago and I still feel horrified.