The Thirteenth Tale - November BOTM

[Ipshita]

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.

Share your thoughts here!

[The Cruciverbalistic Bookworm]

Yes, this book was indeed a mesmerizing read. Brilliant storytelling and a loving tribute to reading...and bookworms!

[Ipshita]

I'm yet to read this but all the positive reviews have got me really interested.

[Emma]

I read this one a few years ago (more than four years ago, now that I think about it), and there are some details that I've forgotten, but overall I remember the book very vividly, because it left such an impression on me.

I bought it in Waterstones randomly, because I thought the cover looked nice (it was the edition with the two girls) and it was labelled "buy one, get one half priced". Anyways, I picked this one and another up, stored it in my bag and went home. I didn't actually start reading it until a few weeks later, and. Oh boy.

I remember that I couldn't sleep because my best friend was staying over and I have trouble sleeping with someone else in the room, so I took the book from my shelf, and started reading, and didn't stop.

It was one of the first books I read in English, so to say that it was hard to read is an understatement. I had to pause several times to look up words, and at one point my eyes started to hurt from sleep deprivation and my hands were shaking from all the coffee, but I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened.

The Thirteen Tale wasn't perfect, but it surprised me and kept me awake and kept me thinking about it for a long time after I finished it (which is kind of what I'm looking for in a book). It was special to me for reasons that didn't have anything to do with it and for reasons that did. I'm not someone who reads books twice, but I make exceptions for the books I really love, and this is one of them.

(Also am I the only one who would totally read Vida's Thirteen Tales?)