I've read it twice and still don't understand Fire and Hemlock. *weeps*

I think you'll probably find The Woman in White as easy to read as Count of Monte Cristo - it's a real pageturner, to the point that I don't think of it as a long book! The Moonstone is a good one too. (Oh I see lost_spook has already covered this. I second all the Wilkie Collins opinions in that comment!)