Here's a peek at a review that appeared in
Library Journal this month. It should have appeared earlier, but the book got lost in the mail and the review got lost in cyberspace.
Dumas's final novel,
The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon, was discovered by scholar Claude Schopp around 1990. It was originally published in installments from January to November 1869 in
Le Moniteur Universel, a French newspaper in publication between 1789 and 1901. Set in the Age of Napoleon, the novel is historically situated between
The Companions of Jehu (which actually begins the story of
The Last Cavalier's protagonist) and
The Count of Monte Cristo.
Its protagonist is Hector, the young Comte de Sainte-Hermine, who must abandon the woman he loves to avenge the deaths of his father and older brothers for the Royalist cause. Following Hector from France to Burma, the story is vintage Dumas. Though it is incomplete (the scene in progress is completed by Schopp), there is enough adventure and intrigue to satisfy the most demanding reader. In addition, this translation includes an informative essay by Schopp on the history and discovery of the lost novel as well as an appendix containing the first three chapters of another episode.
Read the review at
Library Journal or
Barnes and Noble under "editorial reviews".
I haven't read any Dumas since I was at school. This reminded me just how much I enjoyed him. I hadn't heard about this. I must see if the library has a copy.
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