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CAB - Costa's Audio Book end of the year feature 
Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo"
Plot outline by Auguste Maquet

Early 19th-century Europe, France.
Dantès the protagonist, a young sailor, is cruelly betrayed and wrongfully imprisoned.
Finally breaking free, he uses a hard-earned treasure to accelerate his plans for vengeance.
Re-entering Paris, he dazzles society with wealth and charm.
Weaving subtle schemes, he tests the morals of those around him.
New allies and rivals emerge, shaping the path of his journey.

Volume III Chapter 70,71,72
00:30 70 At the Morcerfs’ Saturday ball, Monte Cristo is the focus; Madame de Morcerf notes he refuses food, opens the garden doors, and invites him to accompany her there.
20:24 71 In the greenhouse, Madame de Morcerf offers the Count fruit; he declines. They discuss friendship and lost love before Albert interrupts, announcing Villefort has come for Valentine’s grandfather, Saint-Méran, died en route.
29:41 72 Villefort stays home; the marchioness falls ill and fears death, insisting Valentine marry Franz. She finalizes her will, claims a ghost visited, and Valentine informs the doctor before walking in the garden.

Main Characters of Volume III
Edmond Dantès / Count of Monte Cristo – Orchestrates the central schemes of justice and revenge, observing and manipulating events in Paris.
Baron Danglars – His proud obsession with wealth leads to his downfall as his greed is being manipulated, exposing his moral emptiness.
Madame Danglars – Humiliated as her secret affair with Villefort resurfaces, tarnishing her social ambitions.
Gérard de Villefort – Ambitious royal prosecutor whose household intrigues and past actions against Dantès drive the main conflict in this volume.
Valentine de Villefort – Villefort’s virtuous daughter, central to the household subplot and the target of scheming characters.
Heloïse de Villefort – Villefort’s ruthless second wife, scheming to advance her own family’s interests and create tension in the household.
Maximilien Morrel – Loyal suitor to Valentine, representing virtue and directly involved in protecting her and supporting the emotional core of the subplot.
Albert de Morcerf – Present in Paris, socially prominent, manipulated by Monte Cristo, and part of key social observations and schemes.
Bertuccio – Monte Cristo’s agent, whose knowledge of Villefort’s hidden crimes and investigative work enables parts of the revenge plot.

Costa's Wordbook
Camellia n an evergreen East Asian shrub related to the tea plant, grown for its showy flowers and shiny leaves 茶花
Myosotis n a plant of a genus which includes the forget-me-nots 毋忘我 (my Ow so tis)
Elssler - Fanny Elssler, an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period
Le Diable boiteux - a novel by the French writer Alain-René Lesage. It is set in Madrid, and tells the story of the demon king Asmodeus, Don Cleophas Leandro Perez Zambullo and his beloved, Donna Thomasa
Cachucha n a lively Spanish solo dance in triple time, performed with castanet accompaniment (ca Chu cha)
Danseuse n a female ballet dancer (Dawn sirs, fr)
Whalebone n an elastic horny substance which grows in a series of thin parallel plates in the upper jaw of some whales and is used by them to strain plankton from the seawater 鯨鬚
Le Siècle - fr, The Age, a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France
Franck & Poulmann - 19th-century German bankers in Frankfurt. In the early 1830s, they went bankrupt, causing ripples in European financial circles at the time.
Partant pour la Syrie - the de facto national anthem of the Second French Empire, used between 1852 and 1870. The music was composed by Hortense de Beauharnais, and the lyrics were written by Alexandre de Laborde, in or around 1807.

Muscatel n a muscat grape, especially as grown for drying to make raisins 麝香葡萄 (Mus ca tel)

Laboriously adv n a way that takes considerable time and effort (la Bor riously)
Phosphoric adj relating to or containing phosphorus, yellowish (phos Phoric)
Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin - aramaic, Numbered, numbered, weighed, divided; a prophetic judgment, God “counted” the days of the kingdom, “weighed” it and found it wanting, and “divided” it among others
Orangeade n a carbonated drink flavoured with orange (Orange jade)
Consumptive adj n a person with a wasting disease, especially pulmonary tuberculosis

Complete Features
Songs of Dead Dreamer, Last Unicorn, Brothers Karamazov, Fellowship of the Ring, Winnie the Pooh, Jane Eyre, Angels & Demons, Perfume, Great Gatsby, Jekyll & Hyde, Maigret, 1984, Metamorphosis, Dracula, Don Quixote, Dorian Gray, Anne Frank, Lord of the Flies, Liar's Poker, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Great Expectations

CAB Milestone
2021: 0 Full soundtrack, no editing, wife commentary, summary outline, irregular release
2022: 2.0 DaVinci editing, wordbook, book intro, AI host + illustration, chapter summary, scheduled release
2023: 2.1 Descript, CapCut, Suno score, character intro, weekly release
2024: 2.2 Standard condenser mic, Audacity, ChatGPT annotation + illustration, timestamp, 1-hour content

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