The Wife of Monte Cristo or The Son of Monte Cristo, Vol. I by Jules Lermina (1881)

Jules Lermina

While doing some searches on the Internet for "more Monte Cristo", readers have no doubt located some references to books: The Wife of Monte Cristo and/or The Son of Monte Cristo, or sometimes, Monte-Cristo and the Countess. A lot of these editions are vaguely worded as "The [...] of Monte Cristo, sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas." But don't be fooled! They are not by Dumas. They were written by Frenchman Jules Lermina, who lifted whole passages from the original, and "continued the journey" of the Count, his friends and enemies.

There are 2 different English-Language translations/edits. I had read the shorter one (translated by Jacob Abarbanell), so it might be possible that the longer one has fewer plot holes. Since this is dreck anyway, I will not be reading the longer one. I did a quick peek, and the two translations are very different, with character names spelled differently, wording not identical or even close, and they sometimes contradict each other while relating the same events (e.g. the death of Jane Zild).

A whopping SEVEN chapters over the two books just recaps what we already know. And it sometimes flubs the Dumas canon, such as making Eugenie totally hetero, has the wrong dates for Benedetto's birth (says 1807, canon: 1817) and the current year (1830, canon: 1838) and refers to Villefort the ex-crown prosecutor as M. Noirtier Villefort (forgetting that his first name is Gerard).

Once we get to the truly NEW material, here's what happens:

BOOK I:

Part 1: Milan, Italy

Benedetto has a second trial, and is sentenced to life at the galleys.

Villefort gradually regains his senses.

Mrs. Danglars agrees to visit Benedetto on the Toulon prison ship. She is planning on donating one million francs to the Jesuits on Feb 25, and Benedetto plans on escaping the day before to steal that money. He promises 1/4 of the windfall to his chainmate, Anselmo, if he can help him escape.

There's this bizarre backstory that Valentine is NOT Villefort's biological daughter. She is descended from Indian royalty. Villefort had swapped his dead newborn for her and passed her off as his daughter all along.🤣

Max and Val visit Villefort one more time before he dies. He confesses to Val about her origins, and asks her to look after Benedetto.

Benedetto and Anselmo escape Toulon, with the help of a sawblade hidden under a trained rat's fur. Benedetto steals his mother's portfolio with the money while she is staying at a vicarage. When she enters the room, he wildly stabs her, not knowing who she is, and he flees.

Benedetto, on a frigate, is thrown overboard by superstitious sailors. The Count and Haydee, relaxing on Monte Cristo island, spot and rescue the shipwrecked Benedetto and then send him (and the cash) on his merry way. They are distracted by other things- the Count swears to do good deeds from now on, and Haydee is pregnant.

FFWD to 1848 in Milan, Italy. It is occupied by the Austrians, and the Italians are restless. Eugenie Danglars, known as La Luciola, is involved with the Italian independence movement, and her performances are patriotic (to the Italians) and subversive (to the Austrians). A new hero, Marquis Aslitta, becomes acquainted with her. He confesses that he's a double agent, and his real loyalties are to Italy. Count San Pietro (Benedetto in disguise) is on Team Austria, overhears him. The Austrians try to arrest Eugenie, but The Count (of Monte Cristo) foils this. Marquis Aslitta and old Major Bartolomeo (aka Cavalcanti) are arrested.

Max and Val are now living in India, and Mrs. Danglars (recovered from the stabbing?) is the governess to their children.

Eugenie renews acquaintances with The Count and Haydee, and recruits them to the cause of Italian independence and rescuing Aslitta.

The Major helps Aslitta escape prison and stays behind. Benedetto orders the Major to be shot the next morning. Outside, the rebellion gains the upper hand with the help of Aslitta, The Count, and his son Esperance (Spero). The Major cleverly gets his jailer drunk and tricks him into surrendering the barracks.

Benedetto shoots at Spero, but the Major takes the bullet. Later, the Austrians surrender and Milan is free. The Count, his family and his friends and allies wrap things up. Aslitta says he will marry La Luciola (Eugenie) that very day (What? Isn’t she a lesbian?) while the Count is headed to Marseilles to help Mercedes.

Part 2: Algeria

In Marseilles, Mercedes is now known as "Madame Joliette", and has gained a friend, a young English heiress named Miss Clary Ellis. Albert, known as Captain Joliette, has made a name for himself fighting in Algeria. Sergeant CouCou from Albert's unit arrives in Marseilles with news. He tells the Count and Mercedes that Albert has been kidnapped by the Bedouins, led by the dastardly Mohammed Ben Abdallah (aka Maldar).

The Count gathers men for a rescue mission. Himself, CouCou, Bertuccio, Jacopo, and... Spero, his young son. Beauchamp recommends one Gratillet (a co-worker/adventurer), but Gratillet is not with them as they leave.

A half-chapter is devoted to Miss Clary reading the original book, The Count of Monte Cristo, and she later gushes about what a beautful romance the book is and "Alexandre Dumas is a great man!" (??? ⮜weird amount of [alleged] self-promotion and ass-kissing).

Miss Clary decides to sponsor her own expedition to Algeria, hiring Captain Wharton and a crew of seasoned sailors. But we don't know why- to assist in rescuing Albert or something? What can go wrong?

Albert is held in the Kiobeh prison in the city of Uargla in Algeria for several months, enough for his uniform to start rotting but he somehow posesses a brand new, 12 foot long fine wool scarf (used later to escape). Other French soldiers are also held captive with him.

Team Monte Cristo leads a force of 100 men and search for Albert. Their camp is raided, and Spero is kidnapped (⮜because it was a bad idea to drag an 8 year old into this). The French prisoners are massacred except for Albert, freed by independent player Gratillet who just suddenly shows up. Was he a mock-prisoner? How'd he get to Algeria first, beating Team Monte Cristo?

The Count seems to be losing his edge😡. Maldar stows away on his ship (sailing FROM France to Algeria?) and breaks into his safe and steals money, AND The Count is brought to Maldar to negotiate a ransom for Spero. He botches the rescue, gets stabbed and shot and starts fading, until a rescue party shows up. It's Team Clary with a new ally, Fanfaro, who saves The Count and Spero's lives. Albert and Gratillet join in on the reunion, and they all head to Fanfaro's place to rest and recover, and Team Clary begs Fanfaro for HIS backstory. (Zzzzzzzz)

Of the 2 parts within Book I, the Adventure in Milan is the best one, by far.  It tells a complete story, with well-defined protagonists and antagonists. We understand what they want, and what they're fighting for. Major Bartolomeo turns out to be quite a patriot, and the Count performs his first Good Deed in fulfilling his new vow. 

The storytelling quality takes a deep dive downwards with the Adventure in Algeria, as Lermina bogs down the narrative with boring and useless backstories of Jacopo, Captain Wharton, and Medje (an Arabian girl who Albert rescues) because within 100 pages, all of them will either disappear or die. The story is badly told, with plot holes galore and nonsensical events that just happen and a lot of good action implied but not fully described.

On top of this, the antagonists aren't well-defined. They are referred to as Bedouins, Yavaregs, Arabs, the Khouans, the Ajassuas, and seem to have some dissension within their own ranks. A crazed marabout wants to slaughter the French prisoners, but Maldar wants them alive and kept in prison. Plot-oriented events that should be exciting are terse and told in one or two sentences or absent (Team Clary's captain and crew desert them. Fanfaro rescues the ladies. How and why did Gratillet get involved? What happened after Albert and Gratillet dropped off a cliff into a lake? How did they reunite with CouCou and the rest? Jacopo's death? Medje's death? Did Maldar die?)

There's more! Book II this set is called The Son of Monte Cristo or The Son of Monte Cristo, Vol. II, which continues Fanfaro's story before it finally gets back to the final fates of The Count and Spero. Read my review and commentary here!