A Tale of Two Cities

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It was the French Revolution. Unjustly imprisoned for years in the Bastille, Dr. Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, and safely transported from France to England where they hope to return to their quiet lives. However, they are summoned to the Old Bailey in the trial of Charles Darnay, a young Frenchman falsely accused of treason. Strangely enough, Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to another man in the courtroom: Sydney Carton, a dissolute barrister. It is a coincidence that saves Darnay from certain doom more than once. The storming of the Bastille, the death carts with their doomed human cargo, and Madame Defarge, who knits beside the guillotine, are portrayed with drama, romance, and heroics that culminate in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.

“Beginning and ending with some of English literature’s most famous lines, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities thrives on tension and conflict, all set against a bloody backdrop of the French Revolution…Through the senses, Dickens transports us deeper and deeper into another era with each turn of the page. Smell the acidity of red wine as it spills on the streets and ominously stains the faces, hands, and feet of peasants who lap it up in desperation; feel the competing emotions of heartache and hope as one of Lucie’s suitors stands trial; hear the cries of the raging mob and the clangs of their weapons as they storm the Bastille; see the glint of the guillotine as it falls swiftly to its victim below. The novel’s sense of urgency and intimacy will draw you in and propel you through one of the most tumultuous times in history.”--Oprah’s Book Club