WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington area writer, Diana Mayer, has accomplished what few authors would attempt – a sequel to “A Tale of Two Cities.” Inspired by that classic story, and the lack of works like it in today’s “easy read” market, Mayer set out to bring a little of Dickens’ literary style back to modern readers.
Her novel, “Evremonde,” (ISBN: 0-595-34620-0) does just that, and gives us a taste of what it must have been like to live in a time when bestselling authors were talents like Charles Dickens.
“There is increasing evidence that book consumers are craving more intelligent and challenging works,” Mayer said. That trend has the author hopeful that her literary feat will find its niche in the market.
The sequel continues the story of the Darnay family, the central cast in the original novel. When that book ends, the dying hero Sydney Carton foresees that the woman he loves will someday have a son named after him.
“Evremonde” brings that child to life, and follows the course of young Sydney as he strives to live up to his exalted name; it chronicles the harrowing escape of his parents, Charles and Lucie Darnay, from revolutionary France, and the family’s ongoing struggle to recover from the tragic loss of their friend, Mr. Carton.
Relocated to Austria, and soon enduring French occupation and the ravages of the Napoleonic wars, the family is consumed by the urgency to conceal their fugitive status and aristocratic identity.
Differences arise among them on how best to do so. Their conflict permits the new Prefet of Police in Vienna – a troubled figure with a particular interest in their youngest daughter – to capitalize on the weaknesses of each family member as they succumb to their unique fears and neuroses about the past.
According to the UK-based Dickens Fellowship, “the suspense that gave the ‘Tale’ so much of its narrative energy is evident in this enterprising sequel.”
When “A Tale of Two Cities” first appeared in 1859, it was published as a serial in the weekly magazine “All the Year Round.” The slow thickening of the plot proved irresistible, and readers proved themselves unwilling to miss a page of the Darnays’ trials and tribulations.
This method of publication has experienced a resurgence, with institutions like Penguin UK and “The Times” of London selling and optioning works they believe will keep readers coming back for more. Following in this tradition, Mayer is currently at work on a serialized version of “Evremonde,” the rights to which will be offered later this year.
Mayer is a native of Los Angeles County. She is a graduate of The American University in Washington D.C.; and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She has held legislative and analytical positions with the U.S. Senate, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice; she lives in McLean, VA.
Currently, “Evremonde” is available at iUniverse.com, by calling 1-800-AUTHORS, and through major online retailers such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
For more information, visit: http://www.dianamayer.net.
[tags]evremonde, charles dickens sequel, diana mayer, iuniverse books, book publishing news, first time author[/tags]
