Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Atria Books
Description
When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales.
Media reviews
A family saga with Gothic overtones, dark secrets, lost twins, a tragic fire, a missing manuscript and over-obvious nods to Jane Eyre, Rebecca and The Woman in White, it reads like something a creative writing class might write as a committee, for the sole purpose of coming up with a novel that
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would suit a book group (and tellingly, there are "Reading Group Study Notes" at the back suggesting topics for discussion). Show Less
The Thirteenth Tale is not without fault. The gentle giant Aurelius is a stock character, and the ending is perhaps a little too concerned with tying up all loose ends. But it is a remarkable first novel, a book about the joy of books, a riveting multi-layered mystery that twists and turns, and
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weaves a quite magical spell for most of its length. Show Less
"The Thirteenth Tale" keeps us reading for its nimble cadences and atmospheric locales, as well as for its puzzles, the pieces of which, for the most part, fall into place just as we discover where the holes are. And yet, for all its successes -- and perhaps because of them -- on the whole the book
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feels unadventurous, content to rehash literary formulas rather than reimagine them. Show Less
~The San Diego Union-Tribune
A book that you wake in the middle of the night craving to get back to...Timeless, charming, a pure pleasure to read...The Thirteenth Tale is a book to savor a dozen times.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ow1goddess
This was a good novel, but flawed. Setterfield sets out to create a literary homage to 19th century gothic novels, Jane Eyre in particular, with mixed success.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the novel. It is engrossing and has good pacing and an interesting frame. Setterfield's writing is mostly
So far so good. The book gets rolling with little wasted time, and soon Margaret is drawn back into the world of Miss Winter's youth and the degenerate Angelfield family. The story that unfolds has it all- the crumbling gothic manor in Yorkshire, the mad and reclusive master, incest, fey, half-mad and beautiful twin daughters, loyal servants, sadism, obsession, suicide, a ghost, a secret inhabitant, a governess, medical experiments, murder, a foundling, a devastating fire...oh, and a topiary garden. This is the major problem with the novel as well as its greatest appeal. So much is going on, so many elements of the gothic are included, that it begins to feel like a parody, but since it's obviously sincere, it wanders over the line into cheesiness. It's hard to say exactly when it is too much, but it's somewhere in the second half, when the secrets start to be revealed so rapidly that they lose import and leave the reader giggling as it gets more and more melodramatic and overwrought. The book also lost points with me for Margaret's largely pointless subplot about her own twin, who died as an infant. The author's portrayal of the relationship between twins gets a little cloying and is the only truly supernatural element of the book, so don't be expecting a major ghost story, as I was.
Basically, this is the winter equivalent of a beach read- a little more substance, a lot more lurid, and good for stormy or rainy weather. Enjoy, if it suits you, but don't expect another Wuthering Heights.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the novel. It is engrossing and has good pacing and an interesting frame. Setterfield's writing is mostly
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solid, sometimes achieving literary lyricality and sometimes trying too hard. The real attraction is the plot, full of scandal, secrets, and tantalizing clues. The hook is old but irresistable- an aging authoress famous for both her amazing stories and her reclusive habits is dying, and she is finally ready to tell someone the truth about her life. She has given many, many interviews, but each one was a story. Stories come back as a major theme of the book- Miss Winter, as she is known, loves stories, and distinguishes telling stories from telling lies. Only now is she ready to tell her own story, and she chooses Margaret, the bookish and reclusive daughter of an antiquarian book dealer, as her biographer.So far so good. The book gets rolling with little wasted time, and soon Margaret is drawn back into the world of Miss Winter's youth and the degenerate Angelfield family. The story that unfolds has it all- the crumbling gothic manor in Yorkshire, the mad and reclusive master, incest, fey, half-mad and beautiful twin daughters, loyal servants, sadism, obsession, suicide, a ghost, a secret inhabitant, a governess, medical experiments, murder, a foundling, a devastating fire...oh, and a topiary garden. This is the major problem with the novel as well as its greatest appeal. So much is going on, so many elements of the gothic are included, that it begins to feel like a parody, but since it's obviously sincere, it wanders over the line into cheesiness. It's hard to say exactly when it is too much, but it's somewhere in the second half, when the secrets start to be revealed so rapidly that they lose import and leave the reader giggling as it gets more and more melodramatic and overwrought. The book also lost points with me for Margaret's largely pointless subplot about her own twin, who died as an infant. The author's portrayal of the relationship between twins gets a little cloying and is the only truly supernatural element of the book, so don't be expecting a major ghost story, as I was.
Basically, this is the winter equivalent of a beach read- a little more substance, a lot more lurid, and good for stormy or rainy weather. Enjoy, if it suits you, but don't expect another Wuthering Heights.
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LibraryThing member DevourerOfBooks
So now I understand why book bloggers and LibraryThingers have just gone on and on about this book. The narrator, Margaret Lea, is a literary-minded young woman biographer who has been enlisted to write the life of the famous story teller Vida Winter. Ms. Winter has previously lied to every
This is a book after a book-lover’s heart. Having grown up in a used bookshop, Margaret venerates books, speaking of them with both passion and compassion. Vida Winter too is enamored with the printed word, having, among other things, a number of different copies of Jane Eyre. Don’t think that all “The Thirteenth Tale” has going for it is a love letter to books, though, the story completely drew me in; I could not wait to see how the tale would unravel.
I listened to the audio version of this book and that was a wonderful experience for me. Although I think it is harder for me to initially get into an audiobook (the printed words say ’story!’ more to me than does a voice on my Ipod), this one was quite well done, the readers were absolutely phenomenal.
This is a definite recommendation for just about anyone. The story is fantastic and the audio will make a commute or a long trip simply fly by.
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biographer she has had, but she promises Margaret she will not do so this time. Between Ms. Winter’s stories and some of her own detective work, Margaret finally gets to the heart of Ms. Winter’s true tale.This is a book after a book-lover’s heart. Having grown up in a used bookshop, Margaret venerates books, speaking of them with both passion and compassion. Vida Winter too is enamored with the printed word, having, among other things, a number of different copies of Jane Eyre. Don’t think that all “The Thirteenth Tale” has going for it is a love letter to books, though, the story completely drew me in; I could not wait to see how the tale would unravel.
I listened to the audio version of this book and that was a wonderful experience for me. Although I think it is harder for me to initially get into an audiobook (the printed words say ’story!’ more to me than does a voice on my Ipod), this one was quite well done, the readers were absolutely phenomenal.
This is a definite recommendation for just about anyone. The story is fantastic and the audio will make a commute or a long trip simply fly by.
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LibraryThing member ntempest
A book about book lovers, not to mention a good old fashioned gothic. I'm hard pressed to determine exactly when this book is meant to have taken place, which rather than being annoying was actually quite wonderful. It has a timeless quality that I appreciate. It is sufficiently modern that there
This is the story of Margaret Lea, daughter of an antique bookseller and the surviving sister of a set of twins. She is called upon by famous and mysterious author Vida Winter to write her biography, despite the fact that Margaret has only penned a few brief and rather obscure works before. Vida has told a million false stories of her life over the course of her career, and now, old and ailing, claims to be prepared to tell Margaret the complete truth. The story she tells is both gothic mystery and fabulous ghost story, and over the course of the book much is revealed, both of Vida's backstory and of Margaret's. A wonderful read, long and detailed and atmospheric. The truth comes out slowly, in bits and pieces, and while it is possible to guess at the outcome, the potential for more than one answer to the mystery makes the end truly satisfying.
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are cars mentioned and telephones, but no cell phones or computers, and the heroine sharpens pencils by hand on a portable crank sharpener that attaches to her desk in a vise-like manner--which made me rather nostalgic for elementary school somehow.This is the story of Margaret Lea, daughter of an antique bookseller and the surviving sister of a set of twins. She is called upon by famous and mysterious author Vida Winter to write her biography, despite the fact that Margaret has only penned a few brief and rather obscure works before. Vida has told a million false stories of her life over the course of her career, and now, old and ailing, claims to be prepared to tell Margaret the complete truth. The story she tells is both gothic mystery and fabulous ghost story, and over the course of the book much is revealed, both of Vida's backstory and of Margaret's. A wonderful read, long and detailed and atmospheric. The truth comes out slowly, in bits and pieces, and while it is possible to guess at the outcome, the potential for more than one answer to the mystery makes the end truly satisfying.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
In May, I read for the first time, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I was stunned. Where had I been? What took me so long to discover that my favorite genre was the gothic suspense novel? I considered this question and decided to waste no more time in finding and reading other gothic suspense novels.
Margaret Lea is working in her father’s antiquarian book shop when she receives a letter from England’s most well-known and beloved author, Vida Winter. The author asks Margaret to come to her estate to interview her and write an authorized biography. Margaret is astonished by this request because although she is an amateur biographer, of sorts, with a few published essays, she is not a proper biographer at all. However, she decides to take Miss Winter up on her offer and there the story within a story begins. Miss Winter is near the end of her life and wants to tell her story. Margaret asks only one thing: that she tell the truth and goes to extremes to assure that the truth is told.
Margaret’s overall story of her own history and life (she has a few ghosts of her own) is the story and Miss Winter’s tale is the story within the story. The book is a rich story of secrets, ghosts, books, winter, and family and layers of lush prose bring the story to life. Frequent references to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, the inclusion of a crumbling mansion called Angelfield suggestive of Manderley, a troubled family, tragedy and confused identities, all contribute to the narrative of this superb gothic novel.
It’s astounding to consider that this is a debut novel. The author uses polished prose that keeps the story humming along and the expected first novel jitters are just not present. Consider this passage:
“All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous with ideas and themes---characters even---caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you. Well, it was like that. All day I had been prey to distractions. Thoughts, memories, feelings, irrelevant fragments of my own life, playing havoc with my concentration.” (Page 290)
One very satisfying read. Highly recommended.
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Hence, the reading of Diane Setterfield’s, The Thirteenth Tale and although it is no Rebecca, it was an extremely satisfying read and has encouraged me to seek out more of the genre.Margaret Lea is working in her father’s antiquarian book shop when she receives a letter from England’s most well-known and beloved author, Vida Winter. The author asks Margaret to come to her estate to interview her and write an authorized biography. Margaret is astonished by this request because although she is an amateur biographer, of sorts, with a few published essays, she is not a proper biographer at all. However, she decides to take Miss Winter up on her offer and there the story within a story begins. Miss Winter is near the end of her life and wants to tell her story. Margaret asks only one thing: that she tell the truth and goes to extremes to assure that the truth is told.
Margaret’s overall story of her own history and life (she has a few ghosts of her own) is the story and Miss Winter’s tale is the story within the story. The book is a rich story of secrets, ghosts, books, winter, and family and layers of lush prose bring the story to life. Frequent references to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, the inclusion of a crumbling mansion called Angelfield suggestive of Manderley, a troubled family, tragedy and confused identities, all contribute to the narrative of this superb gothic novel.
It’s astounding to consider that this is a debut novel. The author uses polished prose that keeps the story humming along and the expected first novel jitters are just not present. Consider this passage:
“All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous with ideas and themes---characters even---caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you. Well, it was like that. All day I had been prey to distractions. Thoughts, memories, feelings, irrelevant fragments of my own life, playing havoc with my concentration.” (Page 290)
One very satisfying read. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member countrylife
A booklover, I like to read stories about booklovers. In this story, that is Margaret, from a book shop family, who is retained by a ‘famous’ living author, with a hidden, mysterious past, to write her biography.
Interesting divisions to the book: Beginnings, Middles, Endings, and then
With writing like this:
“… she had that laugh, and the sound of it was so beautiful that when you heard it, it was as if your eyes saw her through your ears … . It was the sound of joy. He married her for it.”
“Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes – characters even – caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you. “
I am inclined to take another chance on this author.
Interesting divisions to the book: Beginnings, Middles, Endings, and then
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Beginnings. This is a story with, as previous reviewers say, shadows of the ‘gothic’; of ghosts and gardens, of Jane Eyre and libraries, and of twin-ness. I found the story engaging, up until the introduction of some very twisted characters, and the deviance from which they sprang. My sane, staid little world would like those parts to have been written differently. But if you can get past those indecencies, the Endings and the following Beginnings resolve very satisfactorily. With writing like this:
“… she had that laugh, and the sound of it was so beautiful that when you heard it, it was as if your eyes saw her through your ears … . It was the sound of joy. He married her for it.”
“Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes – characters even – caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you. “
I am inclined to take another chance on this author.
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LibraryThing member Lman
This is one of those books that gripped me from the first page, whose story intruded into my thoughts at unexpected times and gnawed at my imagination until I completed it. Like Vida Winter extols - the writer whose story it ultimately tells - this book is a good tale because it has "a beginning,
Some may find the ending unsatisfactory but many should agree that the completion of the "Thirteenth Tale" contains a little more of the truth of how the world can really be, rather than the way it is often portrayed in favourite fairy stories.
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middle and end. In the right order." Well written and told with great eloquence by the narrator Margaret Lea, it also tells her story. This book is partly a mystery, mostly a tragedy, and offers a reverence to other books, to the writing and reading of such, that most book lovers will resonate with.Some may find the ending unsatisfactory but many should agree that the completion of the "Thirteenth Tale" contains a little more of the truth of how the world can really be, rather than the way it is often portrayed in favourite fairy stories.
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LibraryThing member Aerrin99
I didn't really know quite what to expect with this book, so I was pleasantly surprised! It's a fantastic romp in the tradition of Gothic mystery, with a plot that slowly reveals secrets, madness, and of course, twist endings.
One of the joys of this book is the joy the characters take in books. It
To truly enjoy this book, you have to be willing to let go a little - there is a strong thread of twinness as two halves of a single soul, for example, that you must buy into early on. If you let yourself fall into the book and its story, you'll have no problem.
Others have mentioned that the narrator's voice, as she pauses to comment on the story she's being fed by Vida Winter, is a bit jarring and distracting. I'd agree, but I also enjoyed the set-up and the main character's voice, so although jarred, I didn't find it overbearing, and the story swiftly got back to the fascinating tale of Angelfield.
Jane Eyre shows up a lot in this book, and although the stories are different, I feel like The Thirteenth Tale fits nicely into the same sort of box - it feels much like it should have been written at the height of Gothic literature. In a good way!
One of the joys of this book is the joy the characters take in books. It
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has some of the most beautiful writing on the topic of reading, on what it means to be a person who loves books and loses oneself to them and allows them to shape who you become. To truly enjoy this book, you have to be willing to let go a little - there is a strong thread of twinness as two halves of a single soul, for example, that you must buy into early on. If you let yourself fall into the book and its story, you'll have no problem.
Others have mentioned that the narrator's voice, as she pauses to comment on the story she's being fed by Vida Winter, is a bit jarring and distracting. I'd agree, but I also enjoyed the set-up and the main character's voice, so although jarred, I didn't find it overbearing, and the story swiftly got back to the fascinating tale of Angelfield.
Jane Eyre shows up a lot in this book, and although the stories are different, I feel like The Thirteenth Tale fits nicely into the same sort of box - it feels much like it should have been written at the height of Gothic literature. In a good way!
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LibraryThing member littlegeek
Basically just a bunch of goth cliches strung together. Diverting, nonetheless. Still, I can't help but wonder why you wouldn't rather just curl up with a DuMaurier or Bronte or Wilkie Collins. They're definitely better written.
Oh, any btw, as a knitter I can tell you that it's virtually impossible
Oh, any btw, as a knitter I can tell you that it's virtually impossible
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to "turn a heel twice." You'd have to be brain dead. There's plenty of common mistakes one could make while knitting a sock, but this is not one of them. Do a little research first, jeeze! Show Less
LibraryThing member PandorasRequiem
There are enough reviews of this book already to answer all of the questions you may be asking about this book. That's why you are scanning these reviews right???
So to sum it up:
Yes, you should read this book. Go buy it, if you don't already own it. Don't be put off by the beginning, it will pick
...and yet it lingers on, far after it ends. Like perfume from another room after the presence has faded, this is the sort of book that will leave a mark in a space of time.
So to sum it up:
Yes, you should read this book. Go buy it, if you don't already own it. Don't be put off by the beginning, it will pick
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up speed and leave you agonizing over what happens next. Try not to be fooled by the bumblingness of the protagonist and narrator. Read it anyways, and keep something handy next to you to mark down the quotations you become attached to. It is engrossing, captivating, poignant and bittersweet. Be prepared to want to try and finish it in one setting. Yes, it is that kind of book. You KNOW the kind I am referring to, the ones that you ignore the phone for, the ones you stay up late to read "just a little bit more", the ones you think about when you are not reading them. So be forewarned: this book has color, flavor and intensity. It almost breathes out the answers teasingly as you sleep and wonder, wonder, wanting to finish it to find out but savor it, knowing it won't last....and yet it lingers on, far after it ends. Like perfume from another room after the presence has faded, this is the sort of book that will leave a mark in a space of time.
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LibraryThing member coffee.is.yum
I hadn't a clue what to expect when opening this book. I was pleased, nevertheless. I don't see how you can love books and not enjoy this. The main character is a woman with her own troubles, but is writing a biography on a famous author named Vida Winter. Winter has a very exciting life, and we
In fact, the book is very much like Wuthering Heights. Vida Winter recites her life story that speaks of generations of people, each relatives' life (and how screwed up it is). All of the residents at Angelfield can be considered a little "odd". This makes the story very exciting indeed.
The best part of the story is how novels and books come into play. Classics are always mentioned, as are the power books have on the lives of characters involved in the story. You can't help but to nod your head in agreement when the main character recites what books mean to her.
The book is not only exciting, but is enlightening. It really makes you think--I think that is its purpose more so than to simply entertain. It's filled with many different lives and in the end, all the threads tie together, bringing all the lives Vida Winter discusses into a single string.
Very thought-provoking indeed.
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get to hear her storytelling very much like the mistress in Wuthering HeightsIn fact, the book is very much like Wuthering Heights. Vida Winter recites her life story that speaks of generations of people, each relatives' life (and how screwed up it is). All of the residents at Angelfield can be considered a little "odd". This makes the story very exciting indeed.
The best part of the story is how novels and books come into play. Classics are always mentioned, as are the power books have on the lives of characters involved in the story. You can't help but to nod your head in agreement when the main character recites what books mean to her.
The book is not only exciting, but is enlightening. It really makes you think--I think that is its purpose more so than to simply entertain. It's filled with many different lives and in the end, all the threads tie together, bringing all the lives Vida Winter discusses into a single string.
Very thought-provoking indeed.
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LibraryThing member philip64
I was hugely disappointed with this tepid and unscary novel. It is neither a pastiche of 19th gothic novels nor an attempt to update them. It is simply a half-hearted dumbing down of the same: coy and facile in equal measure. Every one of the characters is a cliché, from the taciturn servants to
And that's the problem. This book is just not grown-up enough.
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the eccentric authoress. Consequently one can never take it seriously enough to find it scary. Furthermore, Setterfield's refusal to set the story in any particular time (or place) just becomes annoying. It's as if she's afraid of being caught out on a point of research. So we have scenes where the protaganist is told in detail about a disease that is killing the mysterious authoress (it sounds like cancer) but declines to share the information with the reader. Why not just say "Cancer"? Probably it would sound to serious, modern and grown-up.And that's the problem. This book is just not grown-up enough.
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LibraryThing member Antheras
Vida Winter, one of Britain’s best-loved novelists, is known for her reluctance to share the truth of her life story. Having spent the past six decades creating outlandish stories, Vida is facing death and wishes to leave the truth as her legacy.
Margaret Lea is surprised to receive the request
Diane Setterfield’s debut novel The Thirteenth Tale rocketed up the best-seller lists soon after its release mid-September and many skeptics wondered how much of this success was due to aggressive online marketing efforts rather than its merit. This reviewer is pleased to report that, in her opinion, Setterfield’s success is due to a well-crafted plot, engaging characters and frequent nods to gothic novelists of the past.
The Thirteenth Tale centres around a story-within-a-story, as Vida recounts the family history leading up to her birth and beyond. All the elements of a gothic novel are found here; a mouldering old house, mental illness, twins, neglectful parents, a domineering governess, isolation and ghosts. Margaret, an exceptional narrator, is drawn into the action as she tries to substantiate Vida’s story, while battling the specters of her own past.
Initially Margaret is reluctant to be drawn in by Vida, maintaining a professional distance from her subject. Her research, and the parallels she sees between Vida’s and her own story, eliminate her defenses and, like a du Maurier or Brontë heroine, Margaret becomes consumed by the story around her.
Setterfield uses her descriptions of place to increase the readers’ understanding of her characters. Miss Winter has spent so many years suffocating the truth that “..the other rooms were thick with the corpses of suffocated words: here in the library you could breathe.” The library, Margaret’s domain, is the place of truth, therefore a place within which light and air preside.
Essentially, The Thirteenth Tale is about the battle between truth and fiction, and the consequences of each. Fiction is easier, as Miss Winter points out: “What succour, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story?” As readers soon learn, there is a price for each and no simple line can be drawn in the sand.
Margaret Lea is surprised to receive the request
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from Miss Winter, an author she’s never spoken to, asking her to act as biographer. Margaret has published a few articles on lesser known author but is unable to fathom why an author of such reknown would choose her. In an effort to learn more about her potential subject, Margaret picks up her father’s rare copy of Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation and is mesmerized by the stories. As she nears the end of the volume she is confronted by one of Britain’s biggest literary mysteries: where is the thirteenth tale? Margaret agrees to meet with Miss Winter and is quickly engaged in the unfolding story of her complex life and the destroyed estate of Angelfield.Diane Setterfield’s debut novel The Thirteenth Tale rocketed up the best-seller lists soon after its release mid-September and many skeptics wondered how much of this success was due to aggressive online marketing efforts rather than its merit. This reviewer is pleased to report that, in her opinion, Setterfield’s success is due to a well-crafted plot, engaging characters and frequent nods to gothic novelists of the past.
The Thirteenth Tale centres around a story-within-a-story, as Vida recounts the family history leading up to her birth and beyond. All the elements of a gothic novel are found here; a mouldering old house, mental illness, twins, neglectful parents, a domineering governess, isolation and ghosts. Margaret, an exceptional narrator, is drawn into the action as she tries to substantiate Vida’s story, while battling the specters of her own past.
Initially Margaret is reluctant to be drawn in by Vida, maintaining a professional distance from her subject. Her research, and the parallels she sees between Vida’s and her own story, eliminate her defenses and, like a du Maurier or Brontë heroine, Margaret becomes consumed by the story around her.
Setterfield uses her descriptions of place to increase the readers’ understanding of her characters. Miss Winter has spent so many years suffocating the truth that “..the other rooms were thick with the corpses of suffocated words: here in the library you could breathe.” The library, Margaret’s domain, is the place of truth, therefore a place within which light and air preside.
Essentially, The Thirteenth Tale is about the battle between truth and fiction, and the consequences of each. Fiction is easier, as Miss Winter points out: “What succour, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story?” As readers soon learn, there is a price for each and no simple line can be drawn in the sand.
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LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
I really wanted to like this book - so many bloggers are thrilled with it. Unfortunately, I was not. In the end it was mix of things, but mostly pacing. The pacing was so slow that as things went along I lost interest more and more until I just quit reading.
The setting of the house and gardens is
I'm sure there are many people that disagree with me about this book, but I think there are a lot better Gothic novels out there. I'd recommend Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Bride of Pendoric by Victoria Holt, and Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton.
The setting of the house and gardens is
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wonderful and there are some nice sections about reading, but the rest of the plot just dragged. I didn't like the brother and sister and I liked the twins who were the children of the sister even less. There was something so twisted and cold about all of them and it might have been interesting, but it wasn't. It was creepy, but not the kind of creepy that makes you want to read on - more the kind of creepy that feels distasteful and makes you want to stop reading and take a shower.I'm sure there are many people that disagree with me about this book, but I think there are a lot better Gothic novels out there. I'd recommend Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Bride of Pendoric by Victoria Holt, and Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton.
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LibraryThing member msbaba
I came to The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield, with high expectations. I’d recently finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón—a book I enthusiastically reviewed here—and I’d heard from a number of trusted sources that this book was similar in tone, and equally as good. In
I started it on a miserable February morning, shut inside with my cat on my lap—the perfect setting, I thought, to do homage to a contemporary Gothic. The book quickly drew me into another world, all the sights and sounds of my real world fell away, and I was utterly lost in the story—keenly feeling, seeing, hearing and sensing this other strange bookish mysterious world. I was totally entranced by the first one-third of the novel—fully convinced I was reading a magnificent four- or five-star contemporary Gothic revival. In particular, I was in awed by beautiful passages of prose that pulled me briefly away from the story to savor their artful construction.
But the further I got into the book, the more dissatisfied I became. But by the end, I was disappointed—the story just did not measure up to its early promise. Ultimately, the story became absurd, unbelievable, and uninteresting. When I turned the final page, I felt I’d wasted my time…that I would have been better off spending my hours reading another book, perhaps rereading a favorite authentic 18th- or 19th-century Gothic classic.
I moderately recommend this book because the writing is intoxicating—the other world is described with such vivid richness that the reader lives within the pages, seeing, hearing, and feeling what goes on there. Dianne Setterfield has definitely snagged my attention, and I look forward eagerly to reading her next book. She is an author with undeniable skill and artistry—I just hope she puts that mastery to use on a novel with greater believability, purpose and meaning.
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addition, it was the next selection on my book club list. How could I miss?I started it on a miserable February morning, shut inside with my cat on my lap—the perfect setting, I thought, to do homage to a contemporary Gothic. The book quickly drew me into another world, all the sights and sounds of my real world fell away, and I was utterly lost in the story—keenly feeling, seeing, hearing and sensing this other strange bookish mysterious world. I was totally entranced by the first one-third of the novel—fully convinced I was reading a magnificent four- or five-star contemporary Gothic revival. In particular, I was in awed by beautiful passages of prose that pulled me briefly away from the story to savor their artful construction.
But the further I got into the book, the more dissatisfied I became. But by the end, I was disappointed—the story just did not measure up to its early promise. Ultimately, the story became absurd, unbelievable, and uninteresting. When I turned the final page, I felt I’d wasted my time…that I would have been better off spending my hours reading another book, perhaps rereading a favorite authentic 18th- or 19th-century Gothic classic.
I moderately recommend this book because the writing is intoxicating—the other world is described with such vivid richness that the reader lives within the pages, seeing, hearing, and feeling what goes on there. Dianne Setterfield has definitely snagged my attention, and I look forward eagerly to reading her next book. She is an author with undeniable skill and artistry—I just hope she puts that mastery to use on a novel with greater believability, purpose and meaning.
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LibraryThing member seldombites
The Thirteenth Tale is an amazing journey into one woman's hidden past. Filled with beautiful language and wonderfully descriptive passages, this is an extraordinary first work by an incredibly gifted author.
Book lovers will relate well to the narrator Margaret Lea, and will enjoy the timeless
I loved the language in this novel so much, I am including two of my favourite quotes:
"What succour, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? When lightning strikes shadows on the bedroom wall and the rain taps at the window with it's long fingernails? No. When fear and cold make a statue of you in your bed, don't expect hard-boned and fleshless truth to come running to your aid. What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie." Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic." The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Book lovers will relate well to the narrator Margaret Lea, and will enjoy the timeless
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gothic atmosphere and the enchanting prose as Vida's life slowly unfolds. The Thirteenth Tale is a remarkable story that will be enjoyed by all.I loved the language in this novel so much, I am including two of my favourite quotes:
"What succour, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? When lightning strikes shadows on the bedroom wall and the rain taps at the window with it's long fingernails? No. When fear and cold make a statue of you in your bed, don't expect hard-boned and fleshless truth to come running to your aid. What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie." Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic." The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
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LibraryThing member mrtall
‘There was a pitch-black sky that night, and a storm was brewing in it.’
Look, I know this is a popular, highly-rated book, but the line I’ve just quoted verbatim from The Thirteenth Tale is obviously straining to find its purest form of expression, i.e. ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’
In
Loosely, the plot revolves around said heroine’s labors in writing the biography of a popular but reclusive authoress who’s on her deathbed. Her story’s got lots and lots and yet even more secrets, and we readers have them dished out to us with the tart regularity of a Victorian Governess serving bowls of porridge. And now look what’s gone and happened – I’ve been infected by Dianne Setterfield’s stylistic tics, so I must wrap up: The Thirteenth Tale is over-written and over-rated, and is not recommended.
Look, I know this is a popular, highly-rated book, but the line I’ve just quoted verbatim from The Thirteenth Tale is obviously straining to find its purest form of expression, i.e. ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’
In
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other words, this Gothic revival teeters constantly on the brink of self-parody. It’s full of florid, self-conscious descriptions, as it recycles numerous 19th-century tropes and trappings, from a musty old mansion inhabited by a crazy family, to a topiary garden that resembles ‘ethereal bowler hats’, to a mousy, bookish heroine who’s fighting off the vapors more or less non-stop.Loosely, the plot revolves around said heroine’s labors in writing the biography of a popular but reclusive authoress who’s on her deathbed. Her story’s got lots and lots and yet even more secrets, and we readers have them dished out to us with the tart regularity of a Victorian Governess serving bowls of porridge. And now look what’s gone and happened – I’ve been infected by Dianne Setterfield’s stylistic tics, so I must wrap up: The Thirteenth Tale is over-written and over-rated, and is not recommended.
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LibraryThing member ccourtland
Setterfield’s character Miss Winter refers to herself as a subplot in her own story. I think this is accomplished both thematically and through clever story telling. Miss Winter is a writer who twists fairy tales making them more bizarre or gruesome than the original. In a similar parallel,
There is so much going on in this novel, with subplots, thematic references and characters lives that I think it loses some of its strength. The author intends for the reader to be keep in the dark, but at times I felt wrongfully mislead in deceptive directions and got lost or found myself asking ‘so what?’ Also, there is a lot of retelling that occurs, which is especially annoying in the introduction of Hester’s diary. Towards the end, more attention is given to Shadow the cat than to Charlie who we later find out is a lead character in creating this horrid tale of circumstance. The ending quickens, which is a relief from the lull in the middle, but I got the feeling the author did not want or know how to end with the natural conclusion. Instead, we are given a few more chapters of after thought. We are told this is done because readers often wonder what happened in the not so happily ever after. However, it’s too neatly wrapped up and I think discredits all the effort the author originally made and the journey we went on in the first place. It felt more like a summary than an ending.
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Thirteenth Tale follows a like thematic format with hints of various well known fairy tales woven with familiar classics such as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights which evoke a relation between scenic imagery and the psychology of the characters. Although not directly referred to, I also thought the story mirrored another great classic, ‘Great Expectations,’ and found this interesting. However, I do not think the reader has to be acquainted with these classics to enjoy the story, but it is a bonus.There is so much going on in this novel, with subplots, thematic references and characters lives that I think it loses some of its strength. The author intends for the reader to be keep in the dark, but at times I felt wrongfully mislead in deceptive directions and got lost or found myself asking ‘so what?’ Also, there is a lot of retelling that occurs, which is especially annoying in the introduction of Hester’s diary. Towards the end, more attention is given to Shadow the cat than to Charlie who we later find out is a lead character in creating this horrid tale of circumstance. The ending quickens, which is a relief from the lull in the middle, but I got the feeling the author did not want or know how to end with the natural conclusion. Instead, we are given a few more chapters of after thought. We are told this is done because readers often wonder what happened in the not so happily ever after. However, it’s too neatly wrapped up and I think discredits all the effort the author originally made and the journey we went on in the first place. It felt more like a summary than an ending.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Diane Setterfield’s debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale is a darkly rich, many layered read that drew me into it’s pages and held me there while I read of crumbling mansions, feral twins, ghosts and old books.
Reading this book became like peeling the layers of an onion. Intertwining tales,
This is a book that I can see wanting to re-read in the future. Preferably on a stormy night while curled up under a blanket in front of a warm fire. By far the most atmospheric book I have read this year, I truly was carried off to a different time and place every time I picked it up.
I would highly recommend this book, especially to anyone with a love of the great gothic romantic tales of the past.
Reading this book became like peeling the layers of an onion. Intertwining tales,
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distinctly drawn characters, strange revelations all building to a rewarding climax. Mystery after mystery was laid before us, clues were scattered through the pages, and finally all was revealed. The author gave many nods of approval to some of the great classics, pieces of Jane Eyre, The Turn of the Screw, Wuthering Heights were all there to be discovered.This is a book that I can see wanting to re-read in the future. Preferably on a stormy night while curled up under a blanket in front of a warm fire. By far the most atmospheric book I have read this year, I truly was carried off to a different time and place every time I picked it up.
I would highly recommend this book, especially to anyone with a love of the great gothic romantic tales of the past.
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LibraryThing member rainpebble
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Margaret helps her father in his antiquarian bookshop. She also writes short bios or essays on long dead authors. She is fascinated by the written word of a hundred years ago. He father attempts to get her to read current fiction but she doesn't enjoy it.
Margaret was born one of a pair of twins. Her twin died at birth and so did a part of her mother. While her father is very engaged in her life and shares a great deal in common with Margaret, her mother is a rather cold and distant part of her life. She doesn't often leave the flat and returns home quite disturbed when she does.
One rainy evening returning from her outside work, Margaret finds, waiting on the step for her, a letter from the very prominent author Vida Winter. She sits down upon the step to read the letter. "(I never read without making sure I am in a secure position. I have been like this ever since the age of seven when, sitting on a high wall and reading The Water Babies, I was so seduced by the descriptions of underwater life that I unconsciously relaxed my muscles. Instead of being held buoyant by the water that so vividly surrounded me in my mind, I plummeted to the ground and knocked myself out. I can still feel the scar under my fringe now. Reading can be dangerous.)" Ms Winter has never given an authentic interview. They all somehow turn into a piece of fiction, a story. But in her letter to Margaret she invites her to come and meet with her. She wants Margaret to write an honest biography of her life.
Margaret is hesitant but after talking it over with her father she decides to meet with Ms. Winter. When she arrives she is taken to the library and while waiting she peruses the shelves and happily finds the books that she herself has so loved. She also finds many editions of each book that Ms. Winter has written except for her much talked about Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. This book is a compilation of Ms Winter's own renditions of fairy tales. Margaret had read her fathers much protected edition of the book the night she received the letter and found the tales to be "brutal and sharp and heartbreaking" but she loved them. When she came to the end of the twelfth tale upon turning the next pages she found that there was no "thirteenth tale".
When she asked her father why the book was so valuable he told her "Partly because it's the first edition of the first book by the most famous living writer in the English language. But mostly because it's flawed. Every following edition is called Tales of Change and Desperation. No mention of thirteen. You'll have noticed there are only twelve stories?" There were supposed to have been thirteen stories but only twelve were submitted and there was a mix-up with the jacket design. The book was printed with the original title but only twelve stories. They were recalled except for one which had already been sold. Margaret's father had purchased that edition from a collector. People still called the book the Thirteen Tales even though the corrected title Tales of Change and Desperation had been published for over fifty years.
During the interview with Vida Winter regarding the biography Margaret is told that Ms Winter wishes to tell the whole truth about her life and she thinks that Margaret is the writer to do it. Margaret reluctantly agrees to do it.
And so begins "The Thirteenth Tale.
It is an often bizaare and queer tale beginning with the fact that Ms Winter is one of a set of twins just as is Margaret. The story is being told now because Ms Winter is old, ill and has waited too long to tell it herself. In fact she is ill enough that they only meet daily at times when Ms Winter is strong enough to tell more of the story. Margaret spends hours in the evenings transcribing what she has been told that day.
The story is of a village, Angelfield; a house, Angelfield and the Angelfield family of George, Mathilde; their children Charlie and Isabelle, Isabelle's children Emmeline and Adeline and 'their ghost'. Mathilde dies in childbirth with Isabelle and during the birthing, the baby is deprived of oxygen. She becomes known by all as odd. Her brother develops an unnatural obsession with Isabelle. They play strange games, don't develop as 'normal' youth do and eventually she runs off, marries, gives birth to the twins, her husband dies of pneumonia and she returns with her twin girls to the family estate. Only Charlie and the servants remain, her father having pined away to death upon her leaving.
The twins grow up wild and in their own world. Through their lives come others wanting to help but eventually all who remain are the housekeeper, the head gardener, the girls...and the story..........
This story is so fascinating that to put it down even the one time was torture. It was a two sitting read. I found all of the characters to be believable. And the only fault I could find came at the end of the book and was with the doctor, the cat, and the invitation. That didn't ring true to me with the storyline. But this was a five star read for me and I very highly recommend it.
Margaret helps her father in his antiquarian bookshop. She also writes short bios or essays on long dead authors. She is fascinated by the written word of a hundred years ago. He father attempts to get her to read current fiction but she doesn't enjoy it.
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Among her favorites are Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Woman in White. She leads a quiet life living in a small flat above that of her parents. Margaret was born one of a pair of twins. Her twin died at birth and so did a part of her mother. While her father is very engaged in her life and shares a great deal in common with Margaret, her mother is a rather cold and distant part of her life. She doesn't often leave the flat and returns home quite disturbed when she does.
One rainy evening returning from her outside work, Margaret finds, waiting on the step for her, a letter from the very prominent author Vida Winter. She sits down upon the step to read the letter. "(I never read without making sure I am in a secure position. I have been like this ever since the age of seven when, sitting on a high wall and reading The Water Babies, I was so seduced by the descriptions of underwater life that I unconsciously relaxed my muscles. Instead of being held buoyant by the water that so vividly surrounded me in my mind, I plummeted to the ground and knocked myself out. I can still feel the scar under my fringe now. Reading can be dangerous.)" Ms Winter has never given an authentic interview. They all somehow turn into a piece of fiction, a story. But in her letter to Margaret she invites her to come and meet with her. She wants Margaret to write an honest biography of her life.
Margaret is hesitant but after talking it over with her father she decides to meet with Ms. Winter. When she arrives she is taken to the library and while waiting she peruses the shelves and happily finds the books that she herself has so loved. She also finds many editions of each book that Ms. Winter has written except for her much talked about Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. This book is a compilation of Ms Winter's own renditions of fairy tales. Margaret had read her fathers much protected edition of the book the night she received the letter and found the tales to be "brutal and sharp and heartbreaking" but she loved them. When she came to the end of the twelfth tale upon turning the next pages she found that there was no "thirteenth tale".
When she asked her father why the book was so valuable he told her "Partly because it's the first edition of the first book by the most famous living writer in the English language. But mostly because it's flawed. Every following edition is called Tales of Change and Desperation. No mention of thirteen. You'll have noticed there are only twelve stories?" There were supposed to have been thirteen stories but only twelve were submitted and there was a mix-up with the jacket design. The book was printed with the original title but only twelve stories. They were recalled except for one which had already been sold. Margaret's father had purchased that edition from a collector. People still called the book the Thirteen Tales even though the corrected title Tales of Change and Desperation had been published for over fifty years.
During the interview with Vida Winter regarding the biography Margaret is told that Ms Winter wishes to tell the whole truth about her life and she thinks that Margaret is the writer to do it. Margaret reluctantly agrees to do it.
And so begins "The Thirteenth Tale.
It is an often bizaare and queer tale beginning with the fact that Ms Winter is one of a set of twins just as is Margaret. The story is being told now because Ms Winter is old, ill and has waited too long to tell it herself. In fact she is ill enough that they only meet daily at times when Ms Winter is strong enough to tell more of the story. Margaret spends hours in the evenings transcribing what she has been told that day.
The story is of a village, Angelfield; a house, Angelfield and the Angelfield family of George, Mathilde; their children Charlie and Isabelle, Isabelle's children Emmeline and Adeline and 'their ghost'. Mathilde dies in childbirth with Isabelle and during the birthing, the baby is deprived of oxygen. She becomes known by all as odd. Her brother develops an unnatural obsession with Isabelle. They play strange games, don't develop as 'normal' youth do and eventually she runs off, marries, gives birth to the twins, her husband dies of pneumonia and she returns with her twin girls to the family estate. Only Charlie and the servants remain, her father having pined away to death upon her leaving.
The twins grow up wild and in their own world. Through their lives come others wanting to help but eventually all who remain are the housekeeper, the head gardener, the girls...and the story..........
This story is so fascinating that to put it down even the one time was torture. It was a two sitting read. I found all of the characters to be believable. And the only fault I could find came at the end of the book and was with the doctor, the cat, and the invitation. That didn't ring true to me with the storyline. But this was a five star read for me and I very highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member 391
The Thirteenth Tale is an intriguing, slightly hysterical gothic novel, full of twists and turns with some utterly spellbinding storytelling weaving it all together. I found the narrator slightly too dramatic for my tastes, but it all adds to a thrillingly Victorian-Romantic sensibility. I think if
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you are familiar with that genre of novels (Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey, The Woman in White, Wuthering Heights) you will really enjoy this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member cyderry
Vida Winter, a renowned storyteller, is finally ready to tell her own story truthfully. She has told previous biographers different stories but now that she knows she is dying, she hires Margaret Lea to come to her private estate to listen and record her story. There are conditions - she cannot ask
Her powerful story is compelling, mesmerizing, with twists and turns that make the reader stop, turn around, say what was that, and then just continue to plunge forward seeking more. Just as Margaret searches for answers without being able to ask any questions, the reader follows along the path of the tale wondering when the truths will be revealed, all the details discovered which will finally tell all. And then the end, so startling, unexpected, the reader staggers under the final disclosures.
I don't know what else to say. At the very beginning I wasn't excited but the more I got into the story, the more I couldn't put it down. Just as I thought I was at a place where my mind could take a breather, wham, I was hit with another revelation that knocked me for a loop. Highly recommended - completely captivating.
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any questions and must work on Ms. Winter's timetable. But once she starts talking, there's no turning back.Her powerful story is compelling, mesmerizing, with twists and turns that make the reader stop, turn around, say what was that, and then just continue to plunge forward seeking more. Just as Margaret searches for answers without being able to ask any questions, the reader follows along the path of the tale wondering when the truths will be revealed, all the details discovered which will finally tell all. And then the end, so startling, unexpected, the reader staggers under the final disclosures.
I don't know what else to say. At the very beginning I wasn't excited but the more I got into the story, the more I couldn't put it down. Just as I thought I was at a place where my mind could take a breather, wham, I was hit with another revelation that knocked me for a loop. Highly recommended - completely captivating.
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LibraryThing member riofriotex
This is described as a “gothic suspense novel.” I’m not into Gothic fiction like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, so I can’t really comment on that, other than the fitting moodiness of the settings and weather, but The Thirteenth Tale was suspenseful. I was surprised at the denouement; one
Margaret Lea is a young biographer who has been hired by the mysterious, famous, but ailing author Vida Winter to write her life story. Being a natural storyteller, Vida narrates most of her tale in her own voice. Margaret does some private investigating to verify some facts, and these parts contribute to the book, but Margaret’s own story is distracting and a bit overblown. The book is set in England, but it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time frame – cars and telephones exist but personal computers apparently do not; Margaret writes all her notes and correspondence by hand.
The audiobook had British actresses Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner voicing Margaret and Vida respectively, and they were excellent. In this case the British accents are appropriate due to the setting, and there were no annoying pronunciations (such as “et” for ate). This was a good book to listen to on a commute; it held my interest despite its length.
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of the main characters was not who I thought she was; two other characters had a connection I did not suspect. The ending is rather drawn out with the author tying up all the loose ends, but the “thirteenth tale” of the title is rather disappointing.Margaret Lea is a young biographer who has been hired by the mysterious, famous, but ailing author Vida Winter to write her life story. Being a natural storyteller, Vida narrates most of her tale in her own voice. Margaret does some private investigating to verify some facts, and these parts contribute to the book, but Margaret’s own story is distracting and a bit overblown. The book is set in England, but it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time frame – cars and telephones exist but personal computers apparently do not; Margaret writes all her notes and correspondence by hand.
The audiobook had British actresses Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner voicing Margaret and Vida respectively, and they were excellent. In this case the British accents are appropriate due to the setting, and there were no annoying pronunciations (such as “et” for ate). This was a good book to listen to on a commute; it held my interest despite its length.
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LibraryThing member karieh
Lately, I’ve read a good number of books about books. The joy of the printed words, the delicious feel of being completely absorbed in a book, the hold certain characters can have on a reader long after their literary home has been shelved. As a book lover myself, naturally I agree with all of
“The Thirteenth Tale”, while also about the power of stories, shows the darker side of written fantasy. The narrator, Margaret Lea, is not so much living her life through books as avoiding her life with the use of books. She works in her father’s bookshop all day, lives above it at night, and seems to exist only for eight o’clock in the evening, when she can start to read for hours and hours. She prefers nineteenth century works – ones about a time long past, ones with a definitive beginning, middle and end. Ones with order, ones that don’t leave the reader wanting or wondering.
“I pushed my pile of papers to one side, stroked Shadow and stared into the fire, longing for the comfort of a story where everything had been planned well in advance, where the confusion of the middle was invented only for my enjoyment, and where I could measure how far away the solution was by feeling the thickness of the pages still to come.”
But this story, and the many stories contained within, do not promise an easily reached solution. There is doubt, uncertainty, suspicion, lies. The whole book moves between truth and fiction, between life and death, shadow and light. It is a vivid contrast between the stories that people live and the stories people tell.
“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some reason there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write, they continue to exist. We can rediscover them. Their humor, their tone of voice, their moods. Through the written word they can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you. All this, even though they are dead. Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is, by the miracle of ink on paper, preserved. It is a kind of magic.”
One day she receives a letter from Vida Winter, a famous novelist, asking her to come to Yorkshire and listen to her story, and so begins a ghostly adventure of mystery, sorrow and discovery. This story, as with all the stories Margaret reads, consumes her…but this one forces her to actively participate in order to reach a conclusion. And even then…there are still many questions.
Vida is a storyteller, first and foremost, and the truth is foreign to her. So many times she has been pressed for “the truth”, and every time she has created another story. Stories, to Vida and to Margaret, have more life than life itself.
The reader is warned very early on that Vida may be unreliable when it comes to concrete facts, but Margaret, too, holds back. The ghost of the unspoken facts haunts this book along with so many other ghosts. Ghosts of lives lost, lives never lived, ghosts from other books (Jane Eyre and Rebecca, etc.)…this novel is truly haunted.
Time is ethereal as well. Not only is the time period of the book merely a rough sketch, the reader loses track of time through Margaret.
“The end of my nine o’clocks was another anchor in time gone. I listened to her story, I wrote the story, when I slept I dreamed the story, and when I was awake it was the story that formed the constant backdrop of my thoughts. It was like living entirely inside a book. I didn’t even need to emerge to eat, for I could sit at my desk reading my transcript while I ate the meals that Judith brought to my room. Porridge meant it was morning. Soup and salad meant lunchtime. Steak and kidney pie was evening. I remember pondering for a long time over a dish of scrambled egg. What did it mean? It could mean anything.”
I loved the gradual unraveling of this mystery. Reading this book was like sitting in an old library on a gloomy day in a comfortable, though slightly musty chair. Somewhere there is a fire and in the back of one’s mind there is a thought of food and drink, but the story provides the warmth, the nourishment.
“Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes – characters even – caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open a new book, they are still with you.”
Yes, in fact, I do.
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this.“The Thirteenth Tale”, while also about the power of stories, shows the darker side of written fantasy. The narrator, Margaret Lea, is not so much living her life through books as avoiding her life with the use of books. She works in her father’s bookshop all day, lives above it at night, and seems to exist only for eight o’clock in the evening, when she can start to read for hours and hours. She prefers nineteenth century works – ones about a time long past, ones with a definitive beginning, middle and end. Ones with order, ones that don’t leave the reader wanting or wondering.
“I pushed my pile of papers to one side, stroked Shadow and stared into the fire, longing for the comfort of a story where everything had been planned well in advance, where the confusion of the middle was invented only for my enjoyment, and where I could measure how far away the solution was by feeling the thickness of the pages still to come.”
But this story, and the many stories contained within, do not promise an easily reached solution. There is doubt, uncertainty, suspicion, lies. The whole book moves between truth and fiction, between life and death, shadow and light. It is a vivid contrast between the stories that people live and the stories people tell.
“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some reason there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write, they continue to exist. We can rediscover them. Their humor, their tone of voice, their moods. Through the written word they can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you. All this, even though they are dead. Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is, by the miracle of ink on paper, preserved. It is a kind of magic.”
One day she receives a letter from Vida Winter, a famous novelist, asking her to come to Yorkshire and listen to her story, and so begins a ghostly adventure of mystery, sorrow and discovery. This story, as with all the stories Margaret reads, consumes her…but this one forces her to actively participate in order to reach a conclusion. And even then…there are still many questions.
Vida is a storyteller, first and foremost, and the truth is foreign to her. So many times she has been pressed for “the truth”, and every time she has created another story. Stories, to Vida and to Margaret, have more life than life itself.
The reader is warned very early on that Vida may be unreliable when it comes to concrete facts, but Margaret, too, holds back. The ghost of the unspoken facts haunts this book along with so many other ghosts. Ghosts of lives lost, lives never lived, ghosts from other books (Jane Eyre and Rebecca, etc.)…this novel is truly haunted.
Time is ethereal as well. Not only is the time period of the book merely a rough sketch, the reader loses track of time through Margaret.
“The end of my nine o’clocks was another anchor in time gone. I listened to her story, I wrote the story, when I slept I dreamed the story, and when I was awake it was the story that formed the constant backdrop of my thoughts. It was like living entirely inside a book. I didn’t even need to emerge to eat, for I could sit at my desk reading my transcript while I ate the meals that Judith brought to my room. Porridge meant it was morning. Soup and salad meant lunchtime. Steak and kidney pie was evening. I remember pondering for a long time over a dish of scrambled egg. What did it mean? It could mean anything.”
I loved the gradual unraveling of this mystery. Reading this book was like sitting in an old library on a gloomy day in a comfortable, though slightly musty chair. Somewhere there is a fire and in the back of one’s mind there is a thought of food and drink, but the story provides the warmth, the nourishment.
“Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes – characters even – caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open a new book, they are still with you.”
Yes, in fact, I do.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
This one defies description. It can be a ghost story, a fictional biography of a story-teller, an unfinished collection of short stories, a mystery, a gothic tale of horror ala Jane Eyre, but whatever genre the reader tries to fit this one into, it will defy characterization. A New York Times best
It's a many layered story in which Vida Winter, a recluse and aging author of twelve tales of her life over the years, has finally decided to allow the thirteenth to be published, and the world is waiting. She chooses Margaret Lea, a quiet biographer working in her father's bookstore, who has her own hidden childhood riddle to uncover to help her write the final story. As Ms Winter dictates her story to Margaret, we find stories buried in stories, ghosts flying in and out, foundlings, governesses, tales of twins separated and reunited, mad relatives in attics, bumbling but loving household help, the ubiquitous British solicitor, and surprise after surprise. It's not the kind of book I normally would be attracted to, but I found myself unable to stop reading it once it began.
The setting, the exquisite characterization, the unraveling of clues only to lead to more mystery, all held me rapt.
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seller in 2006, this was chosen by our local book club for the January selection.It's a many layered story in which Vida Winter, a recluse and aging author of twelve tales of her life over the years, has finally decided to allow the thirteenth to be published, and the world is waiting. She chooses Margaret Lea, a quiet biographer working in her father's bookstore, who has her own hidden childhood riddle to uncover to help her write the final story. As Ms Winter dictates her story to Margaret, we find stories buried in stories, ghosts flying in and out, foundlings, governesses, tales of twins separated and reunited, mad relatives in attics, bumbling but loving household help, the ubiquitous British solicitor, and surprise after surprise. It's not the kind of book I normally would be attracted to, but I found myself unable to stop reading it once it began.
The setting, the exquisite characterization, the unraveling of clues only to lead to more mystery, all held me rapt.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mojacobs
All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart , mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born.What you get won't be the truth: it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story." This quote from a book by reclusive author Vida
This book is full of stories, nice ones, ugly ones, troubling ones, about families and relationships, expertly told. We get more than a whiff of classic Gothic storytelling - but our heroine, Margaret Lea, is a bit too easily troubled to my liking. Still, I finished the book and liked it well enough - but I'd probably have liked it more if it had not had so much media coverage. Now I was expecting something really special, and alas, for me it was certainly good enough, but nothing more.
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Winter, who asks our heroine to write her biograpy, perfectly sets the tone for what is to follow.This book is full of stories, nice ones, ugly ones, troubling ones, about families and relationships, expertly told. We get more than a whiff of classic Gothic storytelling - but our heroine, Margaret Lea, is a bit too easily troubled to my liking. Still, I finished the book and liked it well enough - but I'd probably have liked it more if it had not had so much media coverage. Now I was expecting something really special, and alas, for me it was certainly good enough, but nothing more.
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Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2007)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Teen — 2008)
Alex Award (2007)
Quill Award (Winner — Debut Author — 2007)
Dilys Award (Nominee — 2007)
Original publication date
2006-09-12
ISBN
9781416540533
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Satterfield |