TWENTY YEARS AFTER

                      

 

“Twenty Years After” is a lovely novel by Alexander Dumas.  It is a sequel 20 years after “The Three Musketeers” by the same famous author.

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The political situation in France had changed during this long time, Cardinal Richelieu is dead and had been succeeded by the Italian Cardinal Mazarin, who is in league with the widowed Anne of Austria, mother of the young King Louis XIV of France.

 

The French people divided between Mazarin’s supporters and his opponents, the Frondeurs who are unhappy with the way the country is run. As Twenty Years after begins France is close to a civil war and when Mazarin meets with d’Artagnan and hears of the brave exploits he has performed in the past, he asks him for help, along with his companions the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis.

 

D’Artagnan and his friends have drifted apart over the years but he set out to meet them and invite them to join him in the Cardinal’s service. But while Porthos hoping that that Mazarin would reward him with a barony is happy to go on with d’Artagnan. The other two have taken the opposite side in the conflict.  The story that follows is a tale of how the friendship between d’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis  is tested by their different political views and loyalties.

 

Their work takes them to England where King Charles I is facing capture and execution and again they find themselves in the opposition., but ultimately their loyalty is still to each other, especially when faced with two new enemies Mordaunt and his son Milady, both villains.

 

This is a mature and spectacular novel, the characters are twenty years older than in The Three Musketeers and have different motivations and priorities.  One of the most memorable scenes in this novel is the execution of Charles I.

 

The basic personality traits of the three musketeers are the same but they have changed in many ways after twenty years.  D’Artagnan has matured from a naïve, passionate, brave young man into a clever, cunning, quick-thinking man in his forties who is now the natural leader of the group.

 

Aramis has fulfilled his ambition of entering the church but isn’t fully committed as he is still too interested in women and fighting.

 

Athos is the favourite character of the three musketeers but he has become so honourable and saintly that he is very frustrated at times and finds consolence with a glass of wine.  

 

One ought to be wiser after reading this book. It’s about friendship during a difficult period in life.                   

 

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