L’uomo che ride (The Laughing Man)

In early 18th-century England, a bizarre vagabond, Ursus, a poet and street philosopher, picks up two orphans – a young boy, his face deformed by a perpetual grin, and a blind infant – and educates them in the adventurous life of wanderers. The boy, Gwynplaine, hides a secret, however. And when, as a young man, he accidentally learns of his origins, his destiny and that of his two companions takes an unexpected turn… A novel with strong colours and gothic atmospheres, written between 1866 and 1868, The Laughing Man is shot through with a thrill of disquiet and mystery: the most nocturnal, dreamlike and visionary work by the author of Les Miserables.