Last November I gave in to temptation and made a list of seven classics that I wanted to read this year. Although I'm going to be flexible with my list, I still like the sound of each book I chose and am looking forward to starting with Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. I'm cheating a little as I am still reading Jane Austen's Emma, a holdover from last year, but I am already thinking ahead to February. As part of the Classics Challenge, on the 4th of each month there will be a prompt to help get a discussion going about whichever classic you happen to be reading at the moment. This month the prompt is to write about the author of the classic you're currently reading. Technically I should write about Jane Austen, but as she is already so well known, I'm not sure I could share anything about her that you don't already know. I don't know much about Alexandre Dumas, however, and in anticipation of my upcoming read, I thought it might be fun to share a few facts about him instead.
He looks like he was a gregarious fellow, doesn't he? He was born in 1802 in Picardy, France. His paternal grandparents met in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). Dumas' grandfather was a French nobleman and his grandmother Creole of French and Afro-Caribbean descent. Whatever money the family had ran 
out by the time Alexandre was born. His father, a general in Napoleon's army, had fallen out of favor and died when Alexandre was very young meaning he received no formal education. It sounds as though Dumas was an avid reader, however.
The stories his mother told him of his father's dashing military exploits must have served as later inspiration for his books. Dumas worked first as a clerk and later began writing plays eventually turning to novel writing. Dumas was one of the first writers of serial fiction in France, which might not be surprising if you've ever read his books. They can be quite lengthy and dramatic in nature. This won't be my first novel by Dumas. I loved The Count of Monte Cristo. It is one of my all-time favorite books and is a thumping good read! The serialized form suited his skills. I had no idea that Dumas collaborated on his books. His assistants would outline the plots and then Dumas would fill in the rest of the details and dialogue turning it into his own creation.
It was a lucrative business, but Dumas led a lavish lifestyle and had a number of romantic liaisons outside of his marriage. He had at least four illegitimate children, 
including Alexandre Dumas fils, his son of the same name who was a famous author in his own right. He built a chateau outside of Paris modeled after an English garden country house, which he named Chateau de Monte Cristo (photo above left), where it sounds as though there were any number of hangers-on taking advantage of his generosity. A smaller building on the property, known as the Chateau d'If (if you're familiar with the story of The Count of Monte Cristo you'll understand the references), was where he wrote. Unfortunately he had to sell the property to pay off debts.
Dumas' remains were moved from his birthplace to the Panthéon in Paris in 2002 where he now lies next to Victor Hugo and Émile Zola. I wonder if his mixed race heritage meant he was excluded from honors bestowed on fellow artists and writers during his lifetime. It seems fitting that his second burial was preceded by a procession that included a coffin covered in blue velvet and four Republican guards dressed as the musketeers Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnon.