The Thirteenth Tale

Alright, as promised, here I am to review my recent read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. First, quickly, I would urge you to check out the announcements page. There is lots of stuff going on you should check out! Also, I am really enjoying Crossed and I just started reading Fast Food Nation for my English class. I'm really liking it so far, I hope it holds strong. OK, now that that is out of the way, we can begin.
The Thirteenth Tale is kind of shrouded in secrets so I'm going to try to summarize this in a way that makes sense but doesn't give anything away. Margaret Lea is a biographer who has grown up around her father in his antique book shop. She has been reading for her whole life and always gets lost in the stories. One night, when she returns to the shop, she finds a letter from world-famous author Vida Winter. Miss Winter is dying and she wants someone to record her life story in a biography, and she things Margaret is the one for the job. Margaret is entirely shocked. Not only has she never met the author, but she has not read a single one of Vida Winter's dozens of novels. For research purposes, Margaret retrieves an antique copy of Vida Winter's The Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is captivated by the stories, and stays up all night reading them. But when she comes to the end of the book, she finds there are only 12 stories. Appropriately intrigued, Margaret agrees to go meet the dying author. Once at the house, Vida Winter takes Margaret on a journey through the dark secrets of her past. She tells Margaret of her days at the Angelfield estate, now long burnt to the ground. As Miss Winter continues though her story, Margaret carefully records the details, but she becomes more and more entangled in the story. In the end, both of these women must learn to face the ghosts and secrets of their past, the things that have haunted them their whole lives.
This book was simply marvelous. A friend gave me the book for my birthday and I kind of put it off for who knows why. Quotes all over the book say that lovers of books will love this book, and I most certainly fall into that category. When I did start reading it, I fell in love with both women's dark stories. The characters were so beautifully written, and Vida Winters chilling story felt so real and powerful. I would come out of the book in a daze, because I had fallen into the story so deeply I forgot anything else existed. I know that the next time I need to buy a book for a book-loving friend, this will be the one. I strongly recommend this thrilling and dazzling story, I know it is a book that will last though many generations.

Rating: 4.5/5