The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield
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Book Reviews of The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
Book Review: The Thirteenth Tale- a more than pleasant surprise
Summary: 5 Stars
When I enter into a bookstore, searching for a good book to read, I always head straight towards one section of the store: Fantasy and Science Fiction. The rest of the store fades away as I enter into the realms of dragons and wizards, space ships and aliens, and magic and time travel. It is very rare that I will ever even consider branching out, browsing through the other hundreds of books, and choosing something from another genre. In fact, I can probably count the number of non-science fiction/fantasy books that I have read on my fingers. When I bought The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, I thought that it was another story of magic, knights, and medieval kings. You can imagine my surprise in finding not a fantasy work, but instead a mystery-filled story of love, betrayal, family, honor, and "living ghosts". Even though it caught me off guard, it was a more than pleasant surprise, for it is most definitely one of the best works of fiction to ever have graced the "New Arrivals" shelves.
Diane Setterfield weaves together a magnificent tapestry that not only enraptures the reader in such a way to make him/her feel an actual need to turn page after page, but it also stretches his/her mind, unearthing questions that are not easily answered and whose answers cause even more hard-hitting questions to arise. The story focuses on two heroine-like characters. The first is Margaret Lea, the narrator and an amateur biographer who loves the world she enters upon opening up a book much more than the world she herself lives in. Her past, the story she has kept to herself since childhood, has left her with a feeling of incompleteness and the need to be whole again. The second character is world-renowned writer, Vida Winter, who has charged Margaret with the some-what difficult but long sought-after task of writing her biography. Miss Winter has spent her entire literary life composing not only story after story for her books, but also, when asked about her past, composing story after concocted story for reporters. The difference now, though, is that she is dying. With no way to tell how long she has before her part in the epic tale that is life is over, she employs Miss Lea with the hopes that, when the time is right, the world would learn of her past and how she came to be the way she was.
Why, though, after all those years of lying to reporters, would Vida Winter change her mind? The answer is found in a solitary inquiry posed by a boy many years back in her past: "Tell me the truth." Just as this imploration haunts the thoughts of our dying writer, it also begins to haunt the mind of Margaret, and the more she learns of this recluse's past, the more she hungers for the truth in its entirety. As the pair race against time and death to answer the unsolved mysteries of each others' lives, the truth is, in fact, revealed, and the stories are finally told. No one is prepared for the whole truth, though, and even the reader will be taken off guard when everything is brought out into the open.
I invite you to take a journey with Margaret through the dark, foggy past of Vida Winter. Learn why she became the secluded writer, brimming with stories of wonder. Learn about the ghosts that haunted her childhood. Walk the paths of mystery with both the aged author and biography-writing bookworm as they seek the answers of their pasts and search for wholeness in their future. Help unearth the ghosts of the long-ago and the skeletons in their closets. And, above all, learn how a mere footnote to the grand narrative can change the entire story.
Book Review: the greatest story nevertold is your own
Summary: 5 Stars
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield centers around the life of reclusive author, Vida Winter, who has spent the last few years creating a series of alternate lives for herself. Now ill and nearing the end of her life, Miss Winter decides it is time to tell the truth and come clean about the events of her life. Thus she sets her sites on, Margaret Lea, a biographer more interested in the dead that lie in books and archives then in living subjects. However, when Margaret receives a letter from Miss Winter inviting her to her home, her curiosity is piqued and she begins reading Miss Winter's most famous collection of short stories. Margaret goes to see Miss Winter unsure of whether or not she should accept the offer to be the biographer of a woman who has lied to so many journalists in the past, and just when she thinks she makes up her mind, Miss Winter draws her in with one simple sentence: "Once upon a time, there were twins."
The novel consists largely of Vida Winter's narration of her past telling the story of a house in Angelfield and of her parents, Isabelle and Charlie, and the staff The Missus and John-the-Dig. Miss Winter's narration of her past and Angelfield is juxtaposed with Margaret's own musings about her own twin sister. Told with the pace of the mystery, The Thirteenth Tale expertly weaves ends of several stories into a wonderful tapestry of sisterhood and friendship with books being the epicenter of this lovely novel.
The book reads much like a work of classic literature with a setting that reminded me of an old estate and a large garden and the absence of any modern day technology to draw away from the drama and feeling of the story. In a sense the little aspects of this book are so subtle and slight that once the story concludes and the mystery of Vida Winter's wife is solves, the tiny insignificant things seem to have a greater purpose in the plot. In this fashion, The Thirteenth Tale remains a page turning experience while at the same time keeping the simple yet sophisticated narrative voice of reluctant Margaret Lea.
In retrospect, it is hard for me to find anything at fault with the story, while some chapters did seem to rage on about certain niche areas of literary history, in hindsight, most of the prose and the theoretical games posed by Miss Winter's narrative are worthwhile and in the end leave the reader looking at symbols that are so slight and delicate that a reader with a cursory glance would never even register that they were there.
I have to say that I was very sorry to see this book end. The story was so original and crafted so beautifully that I am looking forward to see what else Diane Setterfield has up her sleeve in her future literary efforts. In the meantime as we await another literary masterpiece by Setterfield, I recommend picking up a copy of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger for another story of twins and ghosts that is sure to please those with insatiable appetites for books about sisters and ghosts.
Final Grade: A-
Book Review: When the truth is stranger than fiction...
Summary: 5 Stars
Margaret Lea owns a bookshop with her father. She is a bibliophile, having read every book written by classic authors or writers who no longer exist. She writes biographies about dead authors, trying to immortalize their work by learning something about them, but doesn't publish any of her writing except for one essay about two brothers. And that is how Vida Winters, a mysterious and recluse author who is known for her bestselling literary work, most notably for her first book, a collection of thirteen stories. Or at least it had been intended to be thirteen, but only twelve of them were published, and the publisher made the mistake of submitting the book with the title Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. Winters is also known for making up stories about herself in each interview. Apparently, she is now prepared to tell her true story to Margaret. But after years of lying to the media, should she be believed? After some deliberation (and some thorough fact checking after her initial meeting with the author), Margaret travels to Yorkshire to interview Miss Winters, and what she discovers is a story so bizarre -- full of ghosts, mental illness, incest, nosy governesses, etc. -- that it would rival Jane Eyre and other similar gothic stories. Winters's real life tale also reminds Margaret of her past, a missing part of her life that she had tried to escape since she was a child.
The Thirteenth Tale is one of the darkest, most intricate and can't-put-it-down stories I have read in quite a while. As far as thought provoking literature goes, it is right up there with Vertigo by Lauren Baratz-Logsted and The Keep by Jennifer Egan as the best read I've had in the last year or so. Once I turned to the first page it became impossible to stop reading. The story in itself is very complex, lots of twists and turns, that it's impossible to describe in a single paragraph, and it is something you have to read yourself in order to grasp everything. I like the fact that the main character is a book lover. I also like Miss Winters's insights on writing and storytelling. The story-within-a-story format is very well done; you will never be confused, wondering who is narrating the story in what given time. The gothic elements are awesome. It does remind you a great deal of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Rebecca (the previous two novels are mentioned a lot here, especially Jane Eyre). This dark story ends on a bittersweet note and I already miss the characters and the journey Margaret had to take in order to uncover the various mysteries and secrets in Vida Winters's life. If you haven't read The Thirteenth Tale then I suggest you do. Diane Setterfield is a new author whose work I will look into in the future. If you like suspense, literature or gothic stories (or all of the aforementioned genres), you cannot go wrong with this gorgeous effort. But make sure you won't have a whole lot to do when you pick up this book, because you may not be able to put it away once you get started.
Book Review: A book for book lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, I applaud Diane Setterfield, the author, for writing such a novel. I believe it must be a challenge to craft a story that is entirely plausible yet gripping and puzzling and unique.
The central character in The Thirteenth Tale is Margaret Lea, a reticent young woman who is the only child of parents who own a bookshop. I say parents, though it is Margaret's father who is the book expert who spends most of each day in the shop with Margaret. The father and daughter share a tender closeness that adds to the humanity of the book.
Margaret confesses that her love for books actually transcends her feeling for many of the people she knows. Her delight is to slip into bed each evening with a hot cup of cocoa on her bedside table and read for hours into the night. As she has a treasure trove of literary works at her fingertips and enjoys various genres of books, including historical accounts and biographies, she becomes intrigued at times by rather obscure figures in history and takes it upon herself to write small biographies on these men and women, which she occasionally has published.
Her work becomes noticed by a Miss Vida Winter, England's best-known author of her time. Out of the blue, Margaret receives a letter from Miss Winter, requesting Margaret's services to write her life's story. Margaret accepts the position, moves to Miss Winter's estate, and later learns that Miss Winter has given twelve earlier accounts of her life to various biographers, which she confesses have all been untrue. As Miss Winter relates the true account of her life to Margaret, what unfolds is a fascinating tale involving generations of a wealthy, recluse family with a truly dysfunctional lifestyle. There are whisperings of ghosts and ages-old family secrets, which are dark and disturbing.
What transpires is that Margaret grows and learns much about herself, as she first listens and then begins to investigate the truthfulness of Miss Winter's tale. Some pleasant resolutions occur regarding Margaret's and Miss Winter's lives toward the end of the book, which give a nice wrap-up to the many threads of plot woven throughout the story. Along the way, however, there are several cringe-worthy moments and mysterious occurrences that keep the reader riveted.
I will say that the story began a bit slowly for me, but I appreciate how Setterfield takes her time to include elegant descriptions of scenes and feelings and situations. The writing is superb. Also, I appreciate that this work does not include the vulgarity, profanity, violence, and sexual inappropriateness so prevalent in so many of today's novels.
Diane Setterfield is a gem, a writer with an elevated and praiseworthy style. Her tale is a moral one, with honorable characters who display acts of kindness and service, despite some genuinely troubling circumstances. This is definitely a novel worth reading.
Book Review: Don't Take This Book to Bed With You!
Summary: 5 Stars
It starts out well. Our heroine, Margaret, is the daughter of a dealer in old and rare books, the kind that can support the family on a handful of special sales per year. She has worked with her quietly doting father from earliest childhood, learning to love both their trade and the many books upon their shelves. Then, on a day like any other, she receives a summons from the most published, and yet personally unknown, author in England. Vida Winters, known for telling a new and different scenario to reporters whenever asked about her past, has decided to finally tell the true story of her life to someone, and she has chosen Margaret.
Leaving the shop, her agoraphobic and distant mother, and her beloved books, Margaret takes with her a ream of paper, twelve shiny red pencils, and the discovered secret that her parents think is safely sealed away in a tin under the bed.
Miss Winters' story, she says, must be told in its proper order, without interruption by questions, with no looking ahead. And she must tell it before the wolf, eating her from the inside, finishes her storytelling forever. Margaret's plan to decline the job suddenly is overwhelmed by the hints of love, loss, tragedy, and deranged secrets.
The daily sessions of story-telling begin with the loss of a mother, the depression of a father, and the rearing of the product of their union. And then the story begins to darken.
Ms. Setterfield creates, with a masterful use of vocabulary and phrasing, a virtual "train wreck" of events. As the reader watches the engine approach, an inner sense of disaster perceives that the trestle ahead is weak. One by one the cars of the train follow along, swaying and groaning with the stress, starting to tumble into the abyss. Surely the train will stop and the last few cars, at least, will remain in safety. Surely the disaster cannot become worse....
Raised in a house with a reclusive uncle, a housekeeper with dementia, and a taciturn gardener, young Vida suddenly finds herself in charge of the comings and goings of all the residents of the lonely estate, responsible for their needs and for keeping anyone living in the village from intruding on their lair lest they find out their gruesome secrets.
When it seems impossible for any good ending (happy is perhaps too strong a word here), Ms. Setterfield snatches real life away from the horrors of the fire and the insanity, and carefully wraps up all the stories in a satisfactory manner. Whew!
A good, and compelling, read, The Thirteenth Tale will hold your attention and require you to continue to the very end.
Just don't take this book to bed with you.