Before we get started tonight, I wanted to let you in on a little secret. For the best

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Good evening and welcome to this sleepy bookshelf, where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book.

I'm your host, Elizabeth. Thank you for choosing to be here this evening.

Tonight we are returning to a tale of two cities. But before that, let's take

a moment to relax and prepare for sleep. Close your eyes and get comfortable.

Begin to breathe slowly and evenly.

And as you breathe, feel yourself sink deeper into relaxation now i will count backwards from ten before recapping our last episode after each

descending number i want you to feel yourself dropping further and further into a

restful comfortable place ten nine eight seven, six, five, four, four, three, two, one.

The year was 1774, when France and England were ruled by kings and queens claiming divine right. In France, Catholicism was extreme, with people being executed for mild offences, such as failing

to bow down to a procession of monks. Meanwhile, the guillotine was somewhere in production,

awaiting to be unbailed for yet unknown devastation.

In England, crime was rife.

High women were commonplace,

and burglaries were so frequent that families had to send all their furniture to storage

if they were travelling for any length of time.

Justice was enforced with inconsistency and sentences of hangings were bestowed upon murderers

and petty thieves alike.

...