A Tale of Two Cities: free audio and reading options

LoudReader’s catalog entry points to Project Gutenberg ebook #98, the English novel by Charles Dickens. Gutenberg labels this edition public domain in the USA. Outside the USA, check the edition’s status where you live; a catalogue listing is not worldwide clearance.

A text-to-speech reading follows that ebook. It is not a recording of a particular commercial narrator, and it does not include the introduction or annotations from a modern print edition. If you are reading for a course, compare the assigned edition’s contents before using the audio as your companion.

The contents divide the novel into three books: Recalled to Life, The Golden Thread and The Track of a Storm. Treat each as a useful checkpoint. When returning after a break, note the book and chapter rather than only a playback time; times change with the reader or speed setting.

• Keep a short, spoiler-free list of the Manette family, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton and the Defarges. Add details as you encounter them.
• At a scene change, establish whether you are in London or Paris before continuing with another task.
• If a long sentence loses you, replay the whole paragraph while looking at the text. Do not assume that every confusing passage is a voice problem.

Try the opening of both. A recorded narrator makes a fixed set of choices about dialogue, emphasis and pauses; text-to-speech generates a reading with the voice you select. Neither an opening sample nor a “natural voice” label guarantees that you will enjoy several hours of it.

The linked LibriVox page lists its chapter recordings and readers. Use those details to check whether you want that version. LoudReader is useful when you want the written text and generated speech together. Our guide to reading ebooks aloud explains that workflow.

1. Install LoudReader on iPhone or iPad; its iPad build also runs on compatible Apple Silicon Macs.
2. While connected, find A Tale of Two Cities in the Gutenberg catalogue and download it. Let any required voice download finish.
3. Open the text and play a passage. Before travelling, test playback with the connection turned off so you know the files are ready.
4. Keep the same edition for your listening sessions and record the current book and chapter if you also use a print copy.

Try every available voice for your first 8 hours of listening. Afterwards, keep a free English voice selection and unlimited book listening. No LoudReader account or word quota. Premium adds features including playback-speed control and the sleep timer. The free voice allowance is separate from how long this novel takes to finish.

There is no single runtime for the title. Human recordings differ, and generated narration depends on voice and playback speed. Use the duration shown for the recording you choose, or the app’s estimate as a planning aid. A chapter is a better stopping target than an arbitrary number of minutes when a conversation or scene is still unfolding.