A Far Better Rest edition by Susanne Alleyn Literature Fiction eBooks
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The French Revolution is vividly brought to life in a brilliant retelling of the classic story that has captured the imagination of readers since the 1850s.
In Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is an almost ancillary character. Dickens' novel tells us the stories of Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette, and Alexandre Manette. Carton disappears from the novel for eleven chapters and several years, reappearing without warning to bring the novel to its chilling and heartbreaking end. Yet Dickens is silent about the circumstances that transformed Carton from a promising youth to an embittered alcoholic and finally to the man who makes the ultimate sacrifice for love. A Far Better Rest imagines his missing personal history and makes him the center of this tragic tale.
Born in England of a wealthy, unloving father and a French mother, Sydney is sent to study in Paris, where he meets Charles Darnay and the other students—Robespierre and Camille Desmoulins among them—who will have enormous influence on his life and alter the course of French history. Years later, when Sydney, disinherited, is living a lonely and purposeless existence in London, Charles reenters his life. The beauty and kindness of Charles's wife, Lucie Manette, affects Sydney so deeply that he secretly devotes his life to her happiness.
At last abandoning London for Paris, Sydney becomes a witness to the formation of the French Republic at the end of the eighteenth century and also to one of the most turbulent periods in history. A Far Better Rest is a novel of passion, identity, and history that stands fully in its own right.
A Far Better Rest edition by Susanne Alleyn Literature Fiction eBooks
I bought this because I had read some of Ms Alleyn's other works set just after the Revolutionand enjoyed them - particularly the portrayal of Sanson. So I thought I would give it whirl. I love the story of a Tale of Two Cities and Sydney Carton is one of my favorite literary characters. Is this Dickens' Carton? No. It's a reimagining of the tale. But I think I like this one just as much and the historical detail is far more accurate here than it is in Tale of Two Cities. Some reviewers may dismiss this as fluff but for one who did her degree in this period of history - there's not an ounce of fluff. The research is solid accurate well used and comes alive with detail. I've seen the ruins of the Abbey in Caen and understand the historial significance in using it. Kudos for not making St Just a monster but rather a driven idealist turned resigned pragmatist. The book captures the growing threat as the Revolution slowly inexorably devours her own. And when Carton comes to his decision at the end I cried just as much as I did with the Dicken's version. If you're a purist and put Dicken's on pedestal - don't read it but if you want a solid tale of life during the Revolution with a flawed hero - read it.Product details
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A Far Better Rest edition by Susanne Alleyn Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Unrequited love, redemption, politics and sex rolled into one terrific book!
I finished reading [A Far Better Rest] a day or so ago. It is an excellent "stand alone" book, but it is also the fictional back-story to [ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens] It both follows and tells of the life of Carton during the period between when he was a school boy in a Paris boy's school with his mirror image friend, Darney, and the dreadful, stark, closing days of the French Revolution.
Brilliant. Inventive. Believable, to the degree that it brings the sense of characters, time and place completely to life. I really care about these players and what is happening in France during this time period as put forth by Ms. Alleyn.
If you love good writing and are interested in a more in depth history of how the revolution in France unfolded and the untold numbers who were subsequently guillotined as enemies of the Republic, then this is one book you will want to peruse and enjoy within its pages the story of star crossed lovers, politics, publishing, loss and betrayal in the process.
I felt that it would not be a tremendous leap for this to be written about present day irrationality in the arena of politics and personalities. Scary, what is done in the name of patriotism, sometimes, when there seems to be no brains and thinking behind the frenzy of feelings of hatred and blood-thirsty revenge.
Well worth your time and attention. Mission accomplished by the author with this stunning work of fiction. Five stars. It would be a marvelous screenplay given the proper treatment and a good director, producer and cast. (Masterpiece Theater, BBC, Merchant/Ivory quality film). Suspense abounds even though you know the story and the ending having already read Dicken's classic. A Far Better Rest is a "far better book", IMHO.
A Far Better Rest is a wonderful retelling of A Tale of Two Cities from Sydney Carton's point of view. It tells the story of Carton's entire life, filling in the gaps in A Tale of Two Cities, where Carton disappears for several years. But not only does Susanne Alleyn do a great job at filling in Carton's "missing years", but she also writes an excellent novel of the French Revolution that stands completely on its own. Yes, it does help if you've read A Tale of Two Cities first, but it is not absolutely necessary. I have not read it for several years, and it's amazing how much I had forgotten. (For example, I had forgotten that Sydney Carton had gone to school in France.) Alleyn's description of the events of the Revolution is far more accurate than Dickens', as she explains in the afterword. Also, I love the way Alleyn introduces historical figures into her narrative; it was a clever touch, to have Carton and Darnay go to school with Robespierre and Desmoulins, for example. And Alleyn's original characters, especially Eleonore, are great additions to the story. I have read many historical novels about the French Revolution; this is one of the best.
Well written and evocative of 18th Century France. Alleyn is a very meticulous researcher and a talented writer. Strongly recommended!
I bought this book because occasionally I do the same thing Alleyn did - I continue stories begun by others. But I never submit them for publication, and I'd never trifle with one of the masters, as she did. For what it claims to be, this book is entertaining, but for someone who was really gripped by "A Tale of Two Cities," this is annoying fluff. I can't believe any of the romantic revelations about Carton that she spins, from the existence of an illegitimate child to Lucie's preferring him over Darnay. (There is more than that, but I don't want to give it all away.) She also makes Carton a central figure at the heart of the Revolution's beginnings, placing him just below Robespierre in influence and notoriety in Paris. I disbelieved this book so much that I almost stopped reading it - but had to see what other nonsense was part of the story. There are some interesting holes filled in - why does Carton resemble Charles so much? why was he in Paris anyway? and so on - but even these seem contrived.
It's a well-written book, grammatically (except her unconventional use of Msr. for Monsieur is a bit jarring, as is the constant use of the contraction "tho'" throughout - the only contraction I noticed in the book, it's liberally sprinkled throughout the pages). It is entertaining *IF* you do not consider "A Tale of Two Cities" to be a masterwork. I do consider it such, and therefore this book is merely a trifling ripoff of Dickens' vision. Not worth the price, especially since it wasn't available in paperback.
I bought this because I had read some of Ms Alleyn's other works set just after the Revolutionand enjoyed them - particularly the portrayal of Sanson. So I thought I would give it whirl. I love the story of a Tale of Two Cities and Sydney Carton is one of my favorite literary characters. Is this Dickens' Carton? No. It's a reimagining of the tale. But I think I like this one just as much and the historical detail is far more accurate here than it is in Tale of Two Cities. Some reviewers may dismiss this as fluff but for one who did her degree in this period of history - there's not an ounce of fluff. The research is solid accurate well used and comes alive with detail. I've seen the ruins of the Abbey in Caen and understand the historial significance in using it. Kudos for not making St Just a monster but rather a driven idealist turned resigned pragmatist. The book captures the growing threat as the Revolution slowly inexorably devours her own. And when Carton comes to his decision at the end I cried just as much as I did with the Dicken's version. If you're a purist and put Dicken's on pedestal - don't read it but if you want a solid tale of life during the Revolution with a flawed hero - read it.
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