6. A book that makes me sad.

 “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens.

Following the Dickensian theme that seems to be haunting this blog lately… This isn’t the copy I have, which seems to be out of print.

“A Tale of Two Cities” is a story about an ex-prisoner of the Bastille and those around him, including his new-found daughter Lucie, and the way in which he is recalled to life, and then plunged into the Terror of the French Revolution. Definitely my favourite Dickens novel, it plays with the ideas of doppelgangers (which also fascinate me within literature) and has a brilliantly enthralling plotline. But a warning - it is sad. VERY sad. I really can’t give away why without spoiling the book, but to those who have read it, the last line alone is enough to cause a welling of sadness for me.

AND, for the record, on the Dickens character poll I posted a few days ago, I voted for Sydney Carton as my favourite ever Dickens creation.

Read the first few pages here.