Orient BlackSwan

About the BookAbout the Author

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution and the ‘reign of terror’ that followed. The story takes us back and forth between London and Paris-the two cities-and revolves around the lives of Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay. Against the grim background of the guillotine, unfolds a tale of adventure and mystery, heroism and courage. We see the quintessential Dickens as he vividly portrays the trials and tribulations of the poor at the hands of the rich, before the Revolution and the mindless mayhem that follows it. This historical novel is unusual for Dickens, whose other major works are set in Victorian England.

Charles Dickens(1812-1870) was born at Landport near Portsmouth, where the happiest years of his childhood were spent. His father’s financial difficulties forced him to work at a very early age which were darkest years of his life. He has however able to return to school and at fifteen became a solicitor’s clerk and a parliamentary reporter. In his travels throughout England, he met many people, some of whom have been immortalised in his novels. Underlying the fun and humour and eccentric characters, is a deep sadness for the injustice and cruelty of the times that marks most of Dickens’s works.