A FAR BETTER THING

Nathaniel Priestly ushers listeners into the mind and heart of Sydney Carton, who listeners may remember is the unfortunate protagonist of Charles Dickens's TALE OF TWO CITIES. Author Parry has given Carton a backstory that explains both his uncanny resemblance to Charles Darnay and his dissolution: He was stolen as a toddler by fairies and raised in their Realm. Now Carton is back in the mortal world, where he carries out the heartless bidding of one of the fairies' servants and numbs himself with drink. Priestley excels at voicing Carton's interiority. His characterizations of others are less steady, particularly when he assumes an unconvincing French accent or female voices, which often sound the same. V.S. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2025]