A Tale of Two Cities ( Unabridged Classics): The Originals
About The Book
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness... The year was 1775 and Lucie Manette, a young self- sacrificing orphan, realised she had been living a lie. Her father, Doctor Manette, whom she had taken for dead was, in fact, alive. The self-exiled nephew of the Marquis EvreÌmonde, Charles Darnay was accused of treason in 1780; Madame Defarge, a victim of the French aristocracy, stitched a hidden registry of those condemned to die; and Sydney Carton, the brilliant yet dissolute alcoholic English lawyer in love with Lucie, were all battling the social ills that had besieged France and England. From the serene lanes of London, they were drawn against their will to the bloodstained streets of Paris at the peak of the Reign of Terror and soon the guillotine cast a lethal shadow over their lives. Originally published in 1859, in weekly instalments in All the Year Round, a British weekly literary magazine, A Tale of Two Cities is a masterpiece which captures the reader's imagination through its haunting narrative of the French Revolution. A firm believer in the virtues of resurrection and transformation, Charles Dickens presents a moving account of sacrifice and redemption through his best-known work of historical fiction.
About Charles Dickens
| Born on 7 February 1812, in Portsmouth, Charles Dickens was one
of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era. He created some of the most intriguing
fictional characters in literature. The author's success began with the 1836
publication of the Pickwick Papers, following which he became an international celebrity.
Known for his humour, satire and incisive representation of society through his
characters, his literary triumphs include A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Oliver
Twist, and Great Expectations. A literary colossus of his time, he wrote 15 novels, 5 novellas, hundreds
of short stories and non-fiction articles. He even performed for Queen Victoria in
1851. Such was the charisma of the author that the term Dickensian, is still used to
describe situations reminiscent of his narratives. Literary stalwarts like Leo Tolstoy, George Orwell and G.K. Chesterton admired him for his comedy, prose style and realism. The quintessential Victorian author died in 1870, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. |
