Before lockdown, I checked out Les Miserables from the local library thinking that I had the whole audiobook. I quickly realized that my 30 CDs only covered the last half of the tome! But I decided to “read” on regardless. It proved to be a spiritual experience, even if Hugo’s theology has its shortcomings. Since then I re-experienced Hugo via this richly illustrated abridgement. Hugo had been an eyewitness of a short-lived but bloody rebellion that saw rebels set up a series of barricades in Paris. The sprawling novel, published in 1851, was rediscovered by many after opening as a stage musical in London in 1985. It describes a voiceless Parisian underclass through the story of Jean Valjean, who is condemned to two cruel decades aboard a galley for stealing a loaf of bread. Valjean is relentlessly pursued by an obsessive policeman, but receives grace from Bishop Myriel, which leads to Valjean’s “transfiguration.” The Krauses’ abridged version of Hugo’s masterpiece is a mixed-media special edition full of French-inspired watercolors, decorative calligraphy, and vintage imagery. This story of God’s relentless love and mercy is perfect for a Sunday afternoon of reading and reflection. On the front inner flap we read the words of Hugo, adapted from the letters of the disciple John, especially appropriate for us in this pandemic:

Love each other dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another. -- Victor Hugo