When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny. All children mythologize their birth…So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter’s collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist. The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating … various outlandish life histories for herself — all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter’s story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission. As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida’s storytelling but remains suspicious of the author’s sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.
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One of my most favorite books!
An extraordinary dark and gothic tale of a dying writer and the young woman she engages to write her biography. Drawing inspiration from such classics as ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’, the story is set in rural Yorkshire where the ruins of a fire damaged mansion are all that left of a grand family and the complicated history the reader …
Intricate but masterful story.
This Russian Doll of a book, is possibly one of the best I’ve read.
It ead okay but slow and drawn out
I totally enjoyed this book. Lots of twist and turns but very intreaging. I couldn’t put it down.
I really loved this book as evidenced by the fact that it is one of the few I have picked up and read through to the end in the last three or four years. (They say that many writers who become published stop reading, esp in their own genre, which this is not, but still . . . Anywho, if I had known that’s the way I would feel, I might have skipped …
This is one of my favorite books! It is unlike any book I’ve ever read. There are so many twists in the story I couldn’t read it fast enough! I don’t want to give away anything
About the story so I’ll just say it’s so enthralling I’d read it again!!
Loved this book from the start. So different from anything I have read before.
True literature
One of my favorite books of all time. A great mystery.
Her follow up is just as good. Atria is a great publishing house
Diane does an excellent job at telling a great Gothic story. This book is my all time favorite contemporary work of fiction. It boasts mystery, drama, loss, love, and a twist.
Great story, especially for book lovers.
An almost dark tale without being macabre, this was an interesting tale about human nature and a study in the conflict between thinking something intellectually vs emotionally. I found it interesting.
I could review this book in one sentence: This is one messed-up family, but its a family that makes for an enchanting story.
This is a book that reads like a fairy tale. Bookshop assistant and minor biographer Margaret Lea is summoned by dying writer Vida Winter to write the latter’s life story. Winter has lived and secretive and reclusive …
What an amazing tale! The narrative draws you in from the first paragraph and then you are completely involved until the very last paragraph. Author Susan Meissner started me on this author and now I must read every one she ever writes. Ms. Setterfield’s plots and “voice” are so spellbinding, one has to devour her work. This book belongs on …
A super unpredictable page turner, I really enjoyed this story. Very well done. Hard to put down, I recommended it to many friends who also enjoyed it.
Great characters with a suspenseful finish!!
The Thirteenth Tale captivated me. It’s fascinating, disturbing, atmospheric, and a stunning reader’s book.
It’s among the finest and most original contemporary Gothics I’ve read.
It’s an intense, seductive tale, and I remain entranced by the deep impressions the author created.
Enjoy!