The Origin Story of the Count of Monte Cristo - an Editorial Review of "From the Ashes of Saint Domingue"

Book Blurb:

Don't tell Napoleon you read this book! He would be furious. This book is about how his greatest rival came to be... Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the Black General of the French Revolution. Napoleon tried to bury Dumas' story in the annals of history, but he didn't count on the man's son writing down a secret revenge story against him, weaving truth into one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written, The Count of Monte Cristo.

This book is the origin story of the Dumas family. It is both highly-researched history and riveting fiction that fills in the gaps where historical records fall short. Immerse yourself in war, revenge, drama, and romance that spans three generations and two continents. Dive into the rich and powerful world of a family that no one believed in, but whose legacy the world has come to cherish.

Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/y4UWX

Author Bio:

Dr. Karrah Cheruiyot has dedicated her life to educating the next generation about World History at both the high school and collegiate level. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at Morehouse College and a teacher St. Paul Central High School. Her deepest passion is about incorporating histories and stories that were hidden by people in power. There is power in the voices that were silenced, and she seeks to elevate those stories back to the history that they always deserved to be. Her debut novel, "From the Ashes of Saint-Domingue" (Pronounced in the nasal French way: S-eh-n Dough-mayn-guh) looks at how one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written (The Count of Monte Cristo - by Alexandre Dumas) is actually hiding a coded revenge story against Napoléon, to bring poetic justice to the author's father... The Black General of the French Revolution, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas. For Cheruiyot, writing is a passion project full of research, joy, and passion. Before she became an educator or a writer, her first love was in the arts. She loved to perform on stage as an operatic soprano. Unfortunately, our world does little to make artistic performance an economically viable life-choice, so she moved to the much more lucrative field of public school teaching. (Yes, that is sarcastic!). When she isn't working or writing, Cheruiyot spends much of her time with her incredible husband and her four wonderful children.

Editorial Review:

Mon Dieu. That actress really just bared herself on one of the grandest stages in Paris. Alexandre Dumas had always loved the theater. 1 He had witnessed countless performances, some dazzling, others dreary, so it was rare for anything to truly astonish him. But tonight was different. Tonight, the play was Mazeppa, a daring adaptation of a poem by Alexandre’s literary idol, Lord Byron. Yet, he was not in attendance for the sake of art. Tonight, he was there for something far more lascivious: the intoxicating and infamous Adah Isaacs Menken.

She was, at best, a capable actress… Spirited, but, under normal circumstances, would never have been allowed to grace the stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Still, she possessed what most actresses lacked… A fearless inclination to disrupt convention. Despite her considerable beauty, Adah was not playing the lead female role of the adoring Polish Countess. Instead, she was cast as her male lover, even wearing trousers almost the entire production. Until she didn't.

The book begins confidently, drawing the reader into a world of mystery, intelligence, and subdued defiance right away. The confident and welcoming tone of the voice indicates that this will be an active challenge to conventional narratives rather than a passive historical recital. The reader is drawn in before they completely understand how committed they have become because of the opening pages' remarkable skill in establishing tone, stakes, and perspective.

Emperors are frequently favored by history over the people they subjugated. An exquisite and purposeful act of opposition against that tendency can be seen in From the Ashes of Saint-Domingue. In addition to recounting a tale that history has forgotten, Karrah Cheruiyot's book explores the reasons behind forgetting. This book restores complexity, dignity, and compassion to a lineage that influenced literature and history. It centers on Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the Black general whose genius rivaled and endangered Napoleon himself.

Cheruiyot presents a comprehensive origin story of the Dumas family that crosses continents, generations, and moral quandaries by fusing painstakingly studied historical facts with evocative fictional reconstruction. The end product is a book that satisfies readers who yearn for both narrative drive and historical depth since it seems both intellectually challenging and emotionally engrossing.

The Count of Monte Cristo's true, hidden background is recounted by Alexandre Dumas in the novel's opening pages, which creates a compelling narrative framework. The reader is grounded in the notion that fiction itself can become an act of resistance when official records fail thanks to this creative and powerful framing technique. The plot follows Thomas-Alexandre's ascent from the son of an enslaved woman to one of the most powerful military leaders of his era as it takes place in Saint-Domingue, revolutionary France, and the social fault lines that separate them.

There was something about her that captivated him. It wasn’t just about the horse anymore, though he would get to that later… Perhaps it was her accent? Her French carried a peculiar cadence that vexed him. It was not a vernacular issue, but the literal timbre of her voice… Like there was something tragically wrong with it. It was probably because she was American. But he already knew that. She seemed to have another, more interesting secret that he yearned to uncover.

Then it struck him… Her hair. Her curls looked natural. They were tightly wound, all by themselves, and not because she had spent hours trying to make them like that. That could only mean one thing. Alexandre also lived in the world of White men… Walked among them… Laughed… Drank… But like this actress, he was an outsider. African blood still coursed through him, though it was ever so slightly masked by a couple generations of Frenchmen.

What makes the story so riveting is not merely the grandeur of events—war, revolution, betrayal—but the emotional through-line connecting them. Identity, heredity, and erasure are recurring themes in the book. Every victory bears the burden of what was denied; every achievement stands in conflict with the mechanisms intended to render it invalid. Even in the quieter, more reflective parts of the story, this thematic coherence keeps the reader interested.

There are some very difficult aspects to this story, but it’s important for the cultural relevance. While this can be triggering for some readers, it’s not done in vain, and it all has a very important purpose to the story.

For a work of this size, the book is remarkably polished. With a good command of pacing that strikes a balance between exposition and scene-driven storytelling, the style is clear and purposeful. In order to enhance the historical context without disrupting the narrative flow, footnotes are utilized wisely and sparingly. They strengthen the author's credibility and increase the reader's interaction with the actual historical record rather than coming across as intellectual or invasive.

The careful handling of formatting decisions, such as chapter transitions, temporal shifts, and point-of-view clarity, enables the reader to switch between eras without difficulty. This is especially crucial in a book that spans several generations, and Cheruiyot is successful in creating a structure that feels deliberate rather than overpowering.

Character development is one of the book's best features. A fully complete person, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas is charismatic, morally upright, incredibly clever, and frequently painfully conscious of the boundaries set by politics and race. He is neither elevated nor devalued. Rather, he is made human in the deepest sense of the word - capable of greatness, vulnerability, anger, and compassion.

The story's female characters—especially Marie-Cessette, whose presence emotionally grounds the book—are equally captivating. Even as history tries to obliterate her name, her tenacity, brilliance, and quiet defiance continue to shape her legacy. Fictional and historical secondary characters are given enough nuance to feel significant, supporting the notion that communities, not just individuals, are the ones who create revolutions.

Continuity might have easily turned into a drawback given the novel's expansive history. Rather, it is a noteworthy strength. The Dumas family's generational growth feels organic rather than episodic, emotional arcs develop logically, and cause and effect are clearly established. As the story progresses, themes that were first introduced—authorship of one's own story, independence, and legitimacy—resurface with increased complexity.

Even while traversing morally dubious ground, the novel's internal logic holds true. The story has authenticity and emotional weight because the decisions made by the characters, despite their flaws, feel rooted in their personal and historical situations.

Because it defies simple resolution, the conclusion of From the Ashes of Saint-Domingue is incredibly rewarding. The book recognizes the long-lasting effects of historical erasure while regaining agency through storytelling itself, as opposed to providing a straightforward victory. The last chapters emphasize that memory and literature are still effective means of reclamation, even though Napoleon may have dominated the official narrative.

Thomas had debated proposing among the roses in the place where his lips had first met hers. However, he needed Marie-Louise to be certain that his feelings for her were deeper than what was visceral or sensual. His love for her was also spiritual. Thus, he continued past the gardens towards St. Nicolas.

As they arrived at the church, the sky had transformed to a deep purple, lit by the brilliantly bright moon. The streets were nearly empty but a nightingale, ignorant to the hardships of the revolution, sang and provided the perfect ambiance. Thomas looked up at the steeple quietly.

This conclusion has a sense of emotional completion, resonance, and earnestness. For a novel about legacy and historical justice, it is perfectly appropriate to leave the reader contemplative rather than satisfied.

This book's dual role as historical fiction and meta-commentary on storytelling itself is what really makes it stand out. Cheruiyot presents a new perspective on literary history while respecting the emotional impact of one of the most well-known vengeance novels ever written by framing the story as the hidden truth behind it. The book challenges the canon rather than merely adding to it.

When official histories fall short, few historical novels dare to challenge how fiction might preserve reality. This book accomplishes this with wit, moderation, and elegant storytelling.

Cheruiyot writes in a deliberate, expressive, and controlled manner. She is aware of when to let implication handle the emotional burden and when to focus on sensory details. Descriptive passages are evocative without becoming overly dramatic, and dialogue sounds historically based without being stiff.

The author's ability to seamlessly blend imagined internal lives with recorded history is perhaps most amazing. The skill is in restraint rather than embellishment, letting the facts speak for themselves while filling up the blanks with logical, emotionally accurate interpretation.

The plot arc - origin, ascension, conflict, betrayal, and reckoning - develops with traditional accuracy. However, by always reinterpreting success and failure through the prism of structural injustice, it avoids predictability. Thomas-Alexandre's ascent is significant because it is continuously threatened rather than because it is unavoidable. This tension provides the arc its emotional impact and advances the story.

The idea that stories don't end with a single life - they reverberate, change, and require retelling - is reinforced by the generational scope.

From the Ashes of Saint-Domingue is a daring, essential book that brilliantly and compassionately fills in a gap in history. It is successful as literary reclamation, historical fiction, and a reflection on who is remembered and why. Readers are reminded that quiet is frequently a choice and that history is not set in stone by Karrah Cheruiyot's timeless yet vitally present tale.

It's possible that Napoleon attempted to remove Thomas-Alexandre Dumas from history. This book guarantees that he won't be successful once more.

5 stars from the Historical Fiction Company and the "Highly Recommended" award of excellence

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