The rousing tradition ended when rock became rap, and I was suddenly in a classroom singing "Dig, Dig, Digger!" to a rap song that is not polite by any means. Students invariably cheered when they saw Sydney beheaded in the rather soppy films of A Tale of Two Cities. I promised them, for years and actually for generations, that I would someday explain Sydney Carton to them.
Once I learned some of the craft of creative writing, I set upon the task of fulfilling my promise. I was lucky to have the editing expertise of my good friend, Orval Garrison, who helped me remove some flamboyant faux pas from the drafts.
Though Sydney caters to a specific audience, I have heard from Dickens' fans in London and in Canada, in Malaysia and Hong Kong. It is a work I am proud of. Synopsis: The surly, drunken hero of A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton, gives his life for a woman, who will never love him. What forces at work in his life forged the melancholy hero?
Follow him from childhood to prep school where he meets Stryver and on to law school in Paris. Paris steals his heart, and changes him forever until his fateful meeting with Lucie Manette in a London courtroom.
Goodreads review:
From the very first sentence to the very last, Sydney's Story was a pleasure to read. I won't give you a synopsis of the story, since other reviewers have already done that, but I will tell you the writing is tight, smooth, and brilliant throughout. Eileen Granfors, I got the sense almost every time I turned a page, wrote the book only she could write so well. Her writing is brilliant for many reasons, but the main reason for me is the efficiency with which she can paint an entire scene and add depth to character. With a brief tag in the dialogue attribution, or a simple sentence describing what a character sees or how a character moves, she paints the scene like a masterful artist using a few well-placed black lines on a white sheet of paper. It's really the sort of writing any novice would do well to study and emulate.
The plot develops smoothly with no stagnation or lurches, and I was transported into Sydney's world and life as if I were on a great airliner piloted by an expert. Even though real-world events interrupted my reading (day job, dry cleaners, errands) I was always happy to return to Sydney's Story to see what happened next with the characters. I loved the way Ms. Granfors developed the characters throughout and even though many of the scenes were heartbreaking, I wasn't left at the end with a feeling of hopelessness, but, instead, with a feeling of hope in mankind. True evil makes an appearance more than once in this story and Ms. Granfors doesn't blink once in her description of it. This isn't an unrealistic fairy tale, don't get that impression. There is real tragedy and cruelty in this book, but there is also great joy and kindness.
Though there are some scenes that are obviously not appropriate for young children, I would recommend this book enthusiastically to any adult or older teen. It's just the right length. I wouldn't add or delete a single sentence.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should say I did get a free version of this book, but I would have paid for it and been happy to do so. I'm happy to have discovered this highly-skilled author and look forward to reading more of her work
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