In a Parisian tavern the Countess de Lorsange reveals her history to a young woman named Therese—a story in which a young girl and her sister fight a battle of morality. Set in a period before the French Revolution, Justine shows the battle of virtue versus vice, where earning your keep takes on fresh connotations, and a titled lady holds a lifetime of illicit secrets. De Sade's first novel, this book was written while he was imprisoned for two weeks in the Bastille. Although published anonymously, de Sade was eventually indicted for blasphemy and obscenity, without trial, for its authorship at the behest of Napoleon Bonaparte.