This tale of love and redemption set before and during the French Revolution is wonderfully plotted and executed (pardon the pun!).
There are no wasted characters or narration. Everything is relevant and finds its place as the storyline is revealed.
Set in London and Paris, the two central characters are Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay (two personalities of Charles Dickens?) Darnay is a French Aristocrat by birth whilst Carton is a Barrister who has not seen his full potential and finds his life slipping away through drink. But, because of his love and respect for Lucie, Darnay’s wife, Carton will give her the ultimate gift.
There are a lot of comparisons in this novel between light and dark (good and evil), Lucie being the Golden Thread and Madam Defarge, (the main antagonist) casting dark shadows. Even Carton and Darnay are considered to be light and dark versions of the same character.
I thought the ending was very good, whereby the rest of the story is told by a prophetic vision – it was sensitively done and finishes with the wonderful line:
“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.”
Wow, what a story teller.
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