The Count of Monte Cristo

Edmond Dantès has every reason to look forward to his life. He is young, a respected sailor on a merchant ship, and about to marry the woman he loves. A jealous rival and a few opportunists, however, bring a false accusation against him, and he is seized and locked in a grim fortress prison without a hearing. Years pass behind its walls. Hopes fade, but a chance encounter with another prisoner opens a path no one could have predicted. This sweeping adventure, set in France in the years following Napoleon's fall, follows a story of injustice and the long, patient question of what a person owes to those who wronged him.