'A Tale of Two Cities' Introduction Quiz

Answer:

'A Tale of Two Cities' is a novel originally published in 1859 by the English author Charles Dickens. The plot of the novel takes place during the French Revolution and is set in London and Paris, which are the two cities of its title. The novel has a complex plot revolving around a young woman, Lucie Manette, living in London and her father, Dr Alexandre Manette, who has been freed by revolutionaries from the Bastille prison after 18 years imprisonment, along with the tribulations of the French spy Charles Darnay.

The opening of the novel, especially the first line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", has become especially well known. While the story is set during the French Revolution, Dickens is not always particularly accurate in his history often preferring the dramatic over the accurate, although there is evidence he referred to Thomas Carlyle's history of the period as a source while writing the novel.