The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

Orion Fiction £7.99
ISBN 978-0-7528-8167-6

Diane Setterfield has written an exciting multi-layered story that had me spellbound long after the last page, there is a fantastic twist in the tale that kept me guessing right up to the end. It is no surprise that it won the fiction category of the Yorkshire Book of the Year in 2006.

Margaret Lea, a bookish loner is invited by Vida Winter, a best selling author to write her definitive, authorised biography. Vida has given many interviews over the years but has never twice told the same story of her upbringing but as she nears the end of her life she wants to set the record straight.

Margaret has no time for Vida’s style of fiction, she prefers the dusty almanacs, the classics and old science books in her father’s bookshop but once she is drawn into Vida’s world there is no going back. Her research takes her to the village of Angelfield where the people she meets throw up more questions rather than help her find the answers to Vida’s mysterious past.

Through Vida’s recollections, old letters and diary entries we are drawn into the history of the March family, the vivacious but troubled Isabelle and her short lived marriage, her brutal and dangerous brother Charles and the twins, Emmeline and Adeline who run wild through Angelfield causing gossip and trouble in the village.

As Vida’s story emerges Margaret re-evaluates her life, she has to confront her own demons and address the secrets within her own family before the unfinished thirteenth story can be told.

This book draws on the style of such classics as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Woman in White and Rebecca, all of which are listed at the back of the book for further reading.

This is the only book Diane Setterfield has written to date, I for one look forward to her second novel.

Reporter: Dianne Blashill for femaleLIFESTYLE.com

Disclaimer:

Some of the news articles on this website have been provided by third parties. Any views / opinions expressed in any article on this website don't necessarily match the views / opinions of the website owner.

Contact the website owner if you have any issues regarding a news article, remembering to quote the ID of the article (shown below the subject).