The Dover mail coach travels to London, carrying Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a banker with a mysterious message: "Wait at Dover for Mam'selle." The passengers are wary and distrustful due to the perilous times.

Book the First - Recalled to Life... Chapter 1: The Mail

"He had a secret to communicate, a message to deliver, which might be worth all the blood, if it could be saved."

"I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man cares for me."

Mr. Lorry arrives in Dover and meets Lucie Manette, a young woman he knew as a child. He reveals that her father, Dr. Alexandre Manette, whom she believed to be dead, is alive and has been released from the Bastille after eighteen years of imprisonment.

Chapter 2: The Passenger

"His boots were covered with dust. He had a quantity of dust about him; somehow, there seemed to be more dust upon him than upon any dusty object in the stage-coach."

"His manner was so dry and cold, that it seemed almost impossible to break the ice which had gathered about it."

"He did not seem to have moved for a score of years."

Lorry takes Lucie to a wine shop in a poor district of Paris, where they find Dr. Manette. He is mentally and emotionally scarred by his imprisonment and spends his days obsessively making shoes, his only link to the past.

Chapter 3: The Shoemaker

"The стук of the hammer was loud in the зале; the стук of his heart was louder."..."His hands were постоянно at work. Sometimes, they were making something; sometimes, they were only twisting and turning, быстро and nervously." ..."'One hundred and five, North Tower!' He repeated it несколько times, in a low voice." (A cryptic and haunting echo of his imprisonment)

Lorry and Lucie tend to Dr. Manette, trying to draw him back to life and reality. Lucie's presence begins to have a calming and restorative effect on him.

Chapter 4: Congratulatory

"I hope you care to be recalled to life?"

"'I have come to bring you,' said Mr. Lorry, taking her hand, 'to your father.'"

Lorry and Lucie bring Dr. Manette to England. He slowly begins to recover his memory and faculties, though he still occasionally reverts to his shoemaking as a coping mechanism

Chapter 6: The Shoemaker at His Bench

"Her father's white head was bent low over his work, and her own fair hair was touching it."

"Tellson's Bank by Temple Bar was an old-fashioned place, even in 1780."

"Death is a recipe for totally forgetting everything that ever interested you."

"The упорство of the почтенный old clerk, as he stood объясняя to the заседатель, was wonderful."

Monseigneur, a wealthy and arrogant French aristocrat, exemplifies the decadence and indifference of the ruling class. His lavish lifestyle contrasts sharply with the poverty of the common people.

Chapter 2: A Sight

"Monseigneur, one of the great lords in power, did a wild thing."

"He had been known for a magnificence of display that had long since bought him into sharp distress."

Mr. Lorry discusses Lucie with Dr. Manette, expressing his concern for her happiness. Dr. Manette assures him of his own restored mental state and his desire for Lucie's well-being.

Chapter 3: A Disappointment

"I am like one who died young. All my life might have been."

"I care for no man on earth, and no man cares for me."

"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."

The complex relationship between Sydney Carton and Stryver is explored. Stryver, a pompous lawyer, takes credit for Carton's brilliant legal work, using him as his "jackal."

Chapter 5: The Jackal

"Sydney Carton, idlest and most unpromising of men, was Stryver's great ally."

"Stryver, a glib man, and a fellow of some ability and great push, could never have been where he was without Carton."

"He was so careless and indifferent, that he never appeared to care whether he performed his duties or not."

The Old Bailey courtroom during Darnay's trial is depicted as a place of morbid curiosity and entertainment for the masses, highlighting the stark social divisions.

Chapter 6: Hundreds of People

"The toiling mills of the court were grinding out their paper crumbs."

"Every eye then rested on the prisoner."

"There were the witnesses for the prosecution and the witnesses for the defence, until it seemed as if all the world were witnesses."

"The leprosy of unreality disfigured every human creature in attendance upon Monseigneur."

"It will die out in the next generation."

The stark contrast between the Marquis St. Evrémonde's luxurious chateau and the poverty of the surrounding village is emphasized. His callous disregard for the lives of the peasants fuels their resentment.

Chapter 8: Monseigneur in the Country

"His chateau was left to itself to decay."

The Marquis is murdered in his bed by a revolutionary named Ernest Defarge, who leaves a note signed "Jacques." This act symbolizes the growing unrest and the desire for revenge.

Chapter 9: The Gorgon's Head

"It was a heavy mass of building, that château of Monsieur the Marquis, with a large stone courtyard before it, and two stone sweeps of staircase meeting in a stone gallery over the door."

"Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques."

"And then the stone face was driven in like a coffin-lid."

Charles Darnay, the nephew of the murdered Marquis, renounces his family name and inheritance out of disgust for their cruelty. He proposes to Lucie, and Dr. Manette, after a moment of distress, promises not to let his past interfere with their happiness.

Chapter 10: Two Promises

"He made a solemn vow before the coffin, that if ever he found the man who had done this deed, he would devote his life to its destruction."

"I will never ask you what you have told me. I will never seek to know what you conceal. But I charge you solemnly...that you assist me to the end."

"Her father's loving arms were round her, and her mother's tears were falling on her face."

Sydney Carton reflects on his wasted life and his growing love for Lucie. He recognizes his own worthlessness in comparison to Darnay but finds a sense of purpose in his feelings for her.

Chapter 11: A Companion Picture

Mr. Stryver, arrogant and self-assured, decides to propose to Lucie, completely misjudging her feelings and the dynamics of the Manette household.

Chapter 12: The Fellow of Delicacy

"Think of a man of talent, Sydney," said Mr. Stryver, throwing his hat back on his head; "think of a man of talent, and figure."

Stryver's clumsy attempt to propose to Lucie is gently but firmly rejected. He is bewildered and blames Carton for his failure.

Chapter 13: The Fellow of No Delicacy

"He had had a bitter disappointment, the one of his life."

"He had seen her in her father's room, he had seen her at the trial, he had seen her going away from him with her husband."

"His face had become frozen, as it were, in a very hard and stern expression."

"Sydney Carton filled another glass with wine."

"I wish you would use your talents better."

Jerry Cruncher, the odd-job man at Tellson's Bank, is revealed to have a secret and disturbing side: he is a "resurrection-man," digging up bodies for surgeons. His wife regularly "flops" (prays) against his activities.

Chapter 14: The Honest Tradesman

"Mr. Cruncher's apartments were not in a savoury neighbourhood..."

"'Recalled to life' once more."

"Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about thirty, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, but saw everything that was being done."

Madame Defarge is constantly knitting a register of those marked for death in the revolution. Her quiet intensity and unwavering focus are chilling.

Chapter 15: Knitting

"It was nothing but a register of the condemned."

"...a woman of orderly and frugal habits; who had a strong sense of religious duty..."

"She had a peculiar skill in netting, of which she had thoroughly availed herself."

"'The chateau and all the race?' inquired the mender of roads."

Charles Darnay tells Dr. Manette his true identity as a member of the Evrémonde family on the night before his wedding to Lucie. This revelation deeply disturbs Dr. Manette.

Chapter 17: One Night

"'Extermination,' said Defarge; 'that the child may know that these things are not done with impunity.'"

"'Monsieur Charles,' said Defarge, standing in the door, 'I wish you good night.'"

"The load of the stone was gone down, and had been carried away, and the образовавшийся пустота, бывшая the weight, was filled with порох."

"'Tell wind and fire where to stop,' returned Madame Defarge, 'but don't tell me.'"

Nine months after the wedding, Lucie and Charles are happy and have a child. Dr. Manette has relapsed into his shoemaking, a consequence of Darnay's revelation. Sydney Carton is a frequent and welcome visitor.

Chapter 18: Nine Months

"The load of secret agony under which the prisoner had so long toiled, was thrown down, and fell away from him like a vestment."

Mr. Lorry confides in Pross about his worries concerning Dr. Manette's relapse. Pross expresses her fierce loyalty to Lucie and her distrust of anyone who might harm her.

Chapter 19: An Opinion

"'I have no business here myself,' said Mr. Lorry. 'This is a matter of delicacy. I cannot interfere.'"

"'I am a disappointed drudge,' said Mr. Cruncher, surlily; 'I am not allowed to be anything else.'"

"It is a hopeless case."

Sydney Carton has a heartfelt conversation with Lucie, professing his love for her and promising to do anything to ensure her happiness and the happiness of those she loves.

Chapter 20: A Plea

"'My dear Lucie, hear me. I have something on my mind to say to you.'"

"'For your sake, Lucie,'—Sydney Carton pleaded earnestly, 'I would do anything on earth that you asked me to do.'"

Five years have passed. Charles Darnay, a French tutor living in England, is acquitted of treason thanks to the brilliant defense of Sydney Carton, a seemingly dissolute but intelligent lawyer.

Book the Second - The Golden Thread... Chapter 1: Five Years Later

"The sea of black and threatening waters, and not a boat upon it."

The violence and chaos of the revolution intensify. The revolutionaries, fueled by years of oppression, take brutal revenge on the aristocracy.

Chapter 22: The Sea Still Rises

"The sea of black and threatening waters rolled on, and was very high."

The Evrémonde chateau is burned to the ground by the revolutionaries, symbolizing the destruction of the old order.

Chapter 23: Fire Rises

"The château was left to the guardianship of certain of the peasant men and women who had been foremost in the revolt."

"Down with the chateau, down with the oppressor, down with him high over all!"

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine. One thousand."

Mr. Lorry receives a message from Gabelle, an employee of the Evrémonde estate, who has been imprisoned. Despite the danger, Charles Darnay feels compelled to return to Paris to help him, drawn by a sense of justice and his past.

Chapter 24: Drawn to the Loadstone Rock

"A terrible attraction drew him irresistibly to the loadstone rock."

"He resolved to go."

"He believed that if he went back, he could do some good there."

"'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death;—the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!'"

"The sea of black and threatening waters, which had of late begun to subside, was mounting to a terrible height."

"He knew that if he was denounced—and against such new, fierce citizens, how could he hope to prove himself?—he would be lost."

"One cannot help thinking of the spiritual sickness which must have directed all this."

"Lucie had her work, and it was the creation of beauty."

"Her father did not refer to it, or appear to have any recollection of it."

Defarge leads Mr. Lorry to Dr. Manette, who uses his status as a former Bastille prisoner to gain access to Darnay in La Force. Lucie is distraught with worry for her husband. Madame Defarge remains a looming, vengeful presence.

Chapter 3: The Shadow

While Darnay is imprisoned, Lucie waits near the prison, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Dr. Manette, though deeply concerned, uses his influence to try and help his son-in-law. Miss Pross remains a steadfast protector.

Chapter 4: Calm in Storm

Mr. Lorry arrives in Paris with Lucie, her father, and Miss Pross. They witness the horrifying scene of revolutionaries sharpening their weapons on a grindstone, their faces grimly determined. Dr. Manette's past imprisonment grants them some safety.

Chapter 2: The Grindstone

"Tell the Wind and the Fire where to stop; not me!"

"Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of fire-wood that the man sawed off..."

"Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule."

Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is a masterful story set against the turmoil of the French Revolution, weaving themes of love, sacrifice, and redemption. The novel explores the stark contrasts between London and Paris, capturing the struggles of social injustice and human resilience. With unforgettable characters like Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge, it delves into the depths of morality, heroism, and transformation. A timeless tale of the best and worst of humanity, still resonant today... WITH SOME SUPRISE RUSSIAN!!!

A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Dickens' greatest historical novel, traces the private lives of a group of people caught up in the cataclysm of the French Revolution and the Terror. Dickens based his historical detail on Carlyle's great work - The French Revolution. 'The best story I have written' was Dickens' own verdict on A Tale of Two Cities, and the reader is unlikely to disagree with this judgement of a story which combines historical fact with the author's unsurpassed genius for poignant tales of human suffering, self-sacrifice, and redemption.

CHARLES DICKENS

Similar ideas

Friedrich Nietzsche and The Criticism of Happiness

Reflect on the week that passed

RALPH WALDO EMERSON