The Corsican Brothers

The Corsican Brothers tells the story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's pains. The story starts in March 1841, when the narrator travels to Corsica and stays at the home of the widow Savilia de Franchi who lives near Olmeto and Sullacaro. She is a mother of a former conjoined twin, Louis and Lucien. Louis is a lawyer in Paris, while Lucien clings on to his Corsican roots and thus stays at his mother's home. The narrator learns that the brothers were once conjoined, but separated at birth by a doctor with his scalpel. Despite being separated Louis and Lucien can still feel each other's emotions, even at distance. Lucien explains he has a mission to undertake, with reluctance. He has to mediate in a vendetta between the Orlandi and Colona families and invites the narrator to accompany him and meet the head of the Orlandi family. Alexandre Dumas, père (1802-1870) was a French writer whose works have been translated into nearly 100 languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. His most famous works are The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

"This fictional tale by Alexandre Dumas sees him travel through old Corsica, 'land of the vendetta', and take up lodgings with the widowed Mme de Franchi. Drawn into the history of the family, he learns that her twin sons, now so different in aspiration and outlook, were in fact born conjoined, and have retained the strongest of psychological bonds - whenever one feels pain, the other suffers too, no matter the distance between them. Yet while the savage Lucien, still living at home and aspiring to be 'a good Corsican', brings harmony to bickering factions, it is the peace-loving Louis, far away in Paris, who becomes embroiled in an affair of tragedy and revenge."--Inside cover.

In the beginning of March, 1841, I was travelling in Corsica. Nothing is more picturesque and more easy to accomplish than a journey in Corsica. You can embark at Toulon, in twenty hours you will be in Ajaccio, and then in twenty-four hours more you are at Bastia. Once there you can hire or purchase a horse. If you wish to hire a horse you can do so for five francs a-day; if you purchase one you can have a good animal for one hundred and fifty francs. And don’t sneer at the moderate price, for the horse hired or purchased will perform as great feats as the famous Gascon horse which leaped over the Pont Neuf, which neither Prospero nor Nautilus, the heroes of Chantilly and the Champ de Mars could do. He will traverse roads which Balmat himself could not cross without crampons, and will go over bridges upon which Auriol would need a balancing pole. As for the traveller, all he has to do is to give the horse his head and let him go as he pleases; he does not mind the danger. We may add that with this horse, which can go anywhere, the traveller can accomplish his fifteen leagues a day without stopping to bait. From time to time, while the tourist may be halting to examine some ancient castle, built by some old baron or legendary hero, or to sketch a tower built ages ago by the Genoese, the horse will be contented to graze by the road side, or to pluck the mosses from the rocks in the vicinity.

A compelling story of twins separated in body but never in spirit. A classic tale of passion and revenge from the author of 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Man in the Iron Mask'. Originally published in 1844, this novel is being republished with a new introductory biography of the author.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

The Corsican Brothers tells the story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's pains. The story starts in March 1841, when the narrator travels to Corsica and stays at the home of the widow Savilia de Franchi who lives near Olmeto and Sullacaro. She is a mother of a former conjoined twin, Louis and Lucien. Louis is a lawyer in Paris, while Lucien clings on to his Corsican roots and thus stays at his mother's home. The narrator learns that the brothers were once conjoined, but separated at birth by a doctor with his scalpel. Despite being separated Louis and Lucien can still feel each other's emotions, even at distance. Lucien explains he has a mission to undertake, with reluctance. He has to mediate in a vendetta between the Orlandi and Colona families and invites the narrator to accompany him and meet the head of the Orlandi family. Alexandre Dumas, père (1802-1870) was a French writer whose works have been translated into nearly 100 languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. His most famous works are The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.