Twenty Years After
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A new translation picking up twenty years after the conclusion of The Three Musketeers and continuing the adventures of the valiant d’Artagnan and his three loyal friends
The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas’s most famous and enduring novel, completed its serial publication in the summer of 1844, and by the time of its book publication at the end of that year, readers were already demanding a sequel. They got it starting in January 1845, when the first chapters of Twenty Years After began to appear―but it wasn’t quite what they were expecting.
When Twenty Years After opens it is 1648: the Red Sphinx, Cardinal Richelieu, is dead, France is ruled by a regency in the grip of civil war, and across the English Channel the monarchy of King Charles I hangs by a thread. As d’Artagnan will find, these are problems that can’t be solved with a sword thrust. In Twenty Years After, the musketeers confront maturity and face its greatest challenge: sometimes, you fail. It’s in how the four comrades respond to failure, and rise above it, that we begin to see the true characters of Dumas’s great heroes.
A true literary achievement, Twenty Years After is long overdue for a modern reassessment―and a new translation. As an added inducement, Lawrence Ellsworth has discovered a “lost” chapter that was overlooked in the novel’s original publication, and is included in none of the available English translations to date―until now.
Dumas’s rousing sequel to The Three Musketeers continues in Blood Royal, the second half of what Dumas originally published as Twenty Years After.
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Alexandre Dumas was one of the most famous and prolific French writers of the nineteenth century, producing some 250 books. He is best known for his historical novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, and he was among the first authors to fully exploit the possibilities of roman feuilleton, or "serial novel." Dumas is credited with revitalizing the historical novel in France. His works are riveting, fast-paced adventure tales that blend history and fiction. A master of dialogue and character development, Dumas composed some of the most emulated teaser scenes for his suspenseful chapter endings. Dumas was born in Villes-Cotterêts in 1802. His father was a general in Napoleon's army, but after he died, the family lived in poverty. Dumas worked as a notary's clerk until 1823, when he went to Paris to seek his fortune. Because of his elegant handwriting, he secured a position with the Duc d'Orleans, who later became King Louis Philippe. He also wrote for the theater and published some obscure magazines. Dumas lived as adventurously as the heroes in his books, taking part in the revolution of July 1830. He later caught cholera during the epidemic of 1832 and traveled to Italy to recuperate. Dumas married his mistress, the actress Ida Ferrier, in 1840, but he soon separated after having spent her entire dowry on the construction of the fantastic château Montecristo on the outskirts of Paris. In 1855 Dumas was forced to escape his creditors and spent two years in exile in Brussels. In 1858, he traveled to Russia, and in 1860 he went to Italy, where he supported Garibaldi and Italy's struggle for independence. He remained in Naples as a museum keeper for four years. After his return to France, his debts continued to mount. Called "the King of Paris," Dumas earned fortunes and spent them on friends, art, and mistresses. Dumas died of a stroke on December 5, 1870, at Puys, near Dieppe. His illegitimate son, Alexandre Dumas (Jr.), became a writer, dramatist, and moralist.
Lawrence Ellsworth is the pen name of Lawrence Schick. An authority on historical adventure fiction, Ellsworth is the translator of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, The Red Sphinx, and Blood Royal. He was born in the United States and now lives in Dublin.
John Lee is an illustrator from Memphis, TN currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and MFA from SVA's Illustration as Visual Essay program. He's worked in a variety of markets including: storyboarding, advertising, editorial, book, fashion and web illustration, as well as live drawing and reportage. He has also taught illustration at the Memphis College of Art.
