The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Every evening (almost) for the past few months, Darian, Cassidy and I have been traveling back through time and across an ocean to the magical land of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Family story time is still a staple in our home, even though both my kids are teenagers now. It's fun to look for books that capture all our imaginations. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas certainly does that. It's a tale of revenge, passion, fantasy, and just a lot of fun.

We're reading the unabridged version, which is full of detail, but we discovered we're hanging onto every word. It's that good.

There are a lot of characters, too, so it can get confusing. Halfway through the book, we created a character chart to help us keep track of all the characters and how they were connected.

The main character, Edmond Dantes, is thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit. While in prison, he meets a man who changes him forever. When Dantes is finally able to escape the dungeon, he emerges with a new life, a fortune, and a new name, The Count of Monte Cristo.

Able to do anything, go anywhere, Monte Cristo instead chooses to plan his retribution against those who wronged him. His plans are elaborate, and full of twists and turns. And in the end...

Oops, I better not give that part away. But I will say this: the ending is good.

Here are two interesting facts about The Count of Monte Cristo: The story was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment. Also, Dumas wrote The Count of Monte Cristo within one year - the same year he wrote The Three Musketeers.