A far better rest

 by Susanne Alleyn. Sydney Carton, the brooding hero of A Tale of Two Cities, is one of Dickens' best creations. In her first novel, Alleyn has taken Sydney as her central character and imagined his entire life. As in Tale, fate links Carton's path with those of Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette but also with that of many historical figures, such as Desmoulins and Robespierre. After the marriage of Darnay and Lucie, Carton goes off to France, expecting to live an idle life there as well but instead gets caught up in the French Revolution, first by writing for a revolutionary journal and later by being elected to the French National Convention. He even finds love again with a cousin of Darnay named Eleonore. There are some discrepancies between this novel and Tale, and Alleyn takes some liberties with Dickens' characters, but she tells a very good story. Best read alongside Tale, Alleyn's novel gives a vivid picture of the development of the French Revolution through the eyes of that wonderful hero despite himself, Sydney Carton. --Booklist (Check Catalog)