A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations: Two Novels (Oprah's Book Club)

Two of the most beloved novels in all of English literature--together in one extraordinary volume.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES
After 18 years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of the two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of the guillotine.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor--these form a series of events that changes the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens's haunting late novel depicts Pip’s education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his "great expectations."

This deluxe paperback edition features
• French flaps
• rough-cut high-quality paper
• complimentary front- and back-cover designs highlighting each novel and including foil and debossing

A Charles Dickens Timeline

1812 Born February 7 in Portsmouth, England 1824 His father John sent to Marshalsea Debtor's Prison for a debt of £40 and 10 shillings
Began working 10-hour days in shoe-polish warehouse to help support family 1833 First story, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk," appeared in the Monthly Magazine 1836 First book, Sketches by Boz, collected his early journalism and stories
First novel, The Pickwick Papers, began its monthly serialization
Married Catherine Hogarth 1837-39 Oliver Twist appeared in monthly installments 1838-39 Nicholas Nickleby serialized 1840-41 The Old Curiosity Shop 1841 Barnaby Rudge 1842 American Notes, based on his tour that year of the United States 1843 The Christmas Carol, the first of his "Christmas tales" 1843-44 Martin Chuzzlewit 1846-48 Dombey and Son 1849-50 David Copperfield 1852-53 Bleak House 1854 Hard Times 1855-57 Little Dorrit 1857 Met actress Ellen Ternan, his longtime companion 1858 Separated from his wife, Catherine 1859 A Tale of Two Cities 1860-61 Great Expectations 1864-65 Our Mutual Friend 1867-68 Second tour of America 1868-69 Farewell reading tour of the British Isles 1870 The Mystery of Edwin Drood (unfinished)
Died from a stroke on June 9