Review of the Black Count by Tom Reiss

I enjoy reading fiction. I really like reading non-fiction. This summer I picked up the book The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. It was a page turning history. Alexander Dumas (1802-1870) was a masterful writer, but I came to find out some of his most notable work was based on family history. What made this book so great was not just how well Tom Reiss wrote, but how captivating the story was, but I had traveled to Haiti this year and am interested in learning about injustices against people of color.

Some quotes that struck me:

At the loss of his father at four years old, Alexander Dumas grabbed his dad's gun and went to see his dad's body. His mom confronted him where he was going. He said to heaven. And she said, “And what will you do in heaven, my poor child?” “I’m going there to kill God, who killed Daddy.” As sacrilegious as that sounds, I hurt for the little boy who loved his dad so much. I imagine how the world looks to a four-year-old. Parents seem larger than life. Alexander Dumas wrote those words at forty-five. His childhood had a profound impact on him.

Another quote that struck me was this fact, "SUGAR planting was the oil business of the eighteenth century." I take sugar for granted.

The book won the Pulitzer Prize and is 430 pages long.

I think you will enjoy this book.

Here are my Favorite Reads of 2017