In 1815 Edmond Dantes, a nineteen-year-old merchant sailor from Marseille, is about to be made captain and to marry his beloved Mercedes. Envious rivals frame him as a Bonapartist agent, and an ambitious deputy prosecutor buries the case to protect himself, so Dantes is thrown without trial into the island fortress of the Chateau d'If.
Years of solitary confinement are broken when he meets the Abbe Faria, an elderly prisoner digging an escape tunnel, who educates him in languages, science and history and tells him of a treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. When Dantes finally escapes, he reinvents himself as the fabulously wealthy and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo and enters Parisian high society, where his former enemies have prospered.
Serialised from 1844 to 1846, the novel is a masterpiece of plotting, full of disguises, poisonings, duels, smuggling and buried secrets. Beyond the adventure, it reflects on justice, vengeance, the limits of human judgement and whether revenge can ever truly satisfy. Unabridged editions run well over a thousand pages, but the pace rarely slackens.
Book details
| Author | Alexandre Dumas |
|---|---|
| First published | 1844 |
| Original language | French |
| Translated by | Robin Buss |
| Genre | Classic |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 1276 |
| Setting | Marseille, the Chateau d'If, Rome and Paris, 1815-1839 |
Themes
- Revenge
- Justice
- Betrayal
- Identity
- Hope
Who should read it
Readers who love long, twisting adventure stories built on betrayal, disguise and an elaborate plan for revenge.