A lot of Dickens with a heavy blending of fantasy and a soupcon of romance set during the French Revolution-- this is an engrossing and well-written novel. The characters are well-drawn and keep you following their story set in the Realm of Fairy and the courtrooms of London and Paris while the fury and temper of the Reign of Terror absorbs France.

The novel centers on fairy changelings replacing humans. The humans are tucked away in the children's corner of the fairy realm. The changelings are set loose in London and Paris to run errands for their fairy masters.

Parry focuses on Charles Darney who wants to meet his changeling. Which is a big no-no. And to do that he has to avoid the grasp of his fairy "master" as it were, named Shadow. But Darney also wants to reunite with his human love, also a changeling. During his search, he also meets with a ragged stage magician and his lady partner who are trying to manipulate their way into the fairy realm. Darney also runs into Therese Defarges (the old woman who sat knitting beneath the active guillotine) and Miss Corday who kills Marat in his bathtub.

What works especially well throughout is how adroitly Parry applies the flavor of Dickens writing. I always enjoyed Dickens, but A Tale of Two Cities was not one of my favorites. Nevertheless, the story is fascinating and a bit over-run with sadness because of how the characters are related to each other and their striving to reach their goals. The Dickens flavor, the description of rooms and courtyards and the magic in the midst of the revolution sometimes makes it a bit hard to untangle the relationships. But ultimately who going to end up on top pulls us to a great ending. ~~ Sue Martin