A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years without trial by the aristocratic authorities. Finally released, he is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, who despite her French ancestry has been brought up in London. Lucie falls in love with Charles Darnay, another expatriate, who has abandoned wealth and a title in France because of his political convictions. When revolution breaks out in Paris, Darnay returns to the city to help an old family servant, but there he is arrested because of the crimes committed by his relations. His wife, Lucie, their young daughter, and her aged father follow him across the Channel, thus putting all their lives in danger. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
A Tale of Two Cities is an historical novel set during the French Revolution. It follows Charles Darnay, one-time French aristocrat who gives up everything and moves to England. Darnay returns to France to help an imprisoned family servant and is imprisoned himself for the crimes of his now dead family. The reader sees the effects of Darnay's imprisonment on his wife and young daughter as well as his father-in-law who himself was a prisoner of the Bastille for 18 years. A Tale of Two Cities contains one of the most infamous evil female antagonists in classic literature in the character of Madame DeFarge. It also contains a character who is so heroic and good it's humbling to read about. I found A Tale of Two Cities to be a good story with a fantastic ending but it was a little bit of a tough read. It's very dry and boring in parts but the conclusion of the story makes reading the book very much worth it.

*From Wikipedia:
The opening – "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." – and closing – "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." – of the book are among the most famous lines in English literature.