Edmond Dantes is a middle class sailor in Marceilles, France, who is about to be promoted to the captain of the ship and to marry the girl he loves, the beautiful Mercedes. All these happy hopes collapse when Edmond is betrayed by the people closest to him, including his best friend, Fernand. Edmond, wrongfully accused and thrown in jail.
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During the 13 years he spends in the Chateau d'If, Edmond turns into a totally different person. He goes from confused to desperate, and from desperate to angry and set on revenge. He befriends another prisoner, Faria, who takes care of Edmond's education. Together, Edmond and Faria are digging a tunnel through the prison wall, hoping to escape. Faria's calculations show that the tunnel will take several years to complete, but, since both prisoners are sentenced to life in jail, they've got time. However, the tunnel is never completed. Faria has some kind of a stroke and dies. Before his death he tells Edmond the location of a long-lost treasure.
When Faria's body is prepared to be taken out, Edmond suddenly sees his chance to escape. He takes Faria's place in the burial sack and ends up being thrown into the sea where he is later picked up by a ship.
Following Faria's directions, Edmond finds the treasure. Now, rich beyond measure, he is well-equipped for revenge. He travels to Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo, tracks down his enemies and begins his quest. The first name on his list is, of course, Fernand Mondego, now married to Mercedes who has no idea what happened to Edmond and who had arranged his arrest.
The review of this Book prepared by Laura Southcombe
Edmond Dantès is turned from a naïve, trusting young man about to be married to his beautiful fiancée, Mercèdés, when he was arrested and imprisoned despite his innocence, due to the jealousy of those he counted friends. After spending nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, he escapes with the help of a priest, Abbé Faria who teaches him a variety of languages and sciences and leaves him with an enormous fortune. Bent on obtaining justice against those men who ruined his life and cost him his father, Dantès uses his mighty fortune and a variety of identites to obtain perfect and ingenious revenge on his enemies and to reward those who showed him loyalty and love when circumstances were at their darkest. Dantès perches precariously between being consumed by his need for revenge and the loving generosity of heart that he struggles to deny, even when dealing with those he has set out to destroy just as they destroyed him...
The review of this Book prepared by Melanie
