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The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel |  | Author: Diane Setterfield
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $0.98
as of 3/20/2010 22:25 MDT details
You Save: $15.02 (94%)
New (86) Used (305) Collectible (5) from $0.98
Seller: gr8lakesbooks1
Rating:  764 reviews
Sales Rank: 1057
Media: Paperback
Edition: X
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743298039
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780743298032
ASIN: 0743298039
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780743298032 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Amazon.com Review
Settle down to enjoy a rousing good ghost story with Diane Setterfield's debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale. Setterfield has rejuvenated the genre with this closely plotted, clever foray into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths. She never cheats by pulling a rabbit out of a hat; this atmospheric story hangs together perfectly. There are two heroines here: Vida Winter, a famous author, whose life story is coming to an end, and Margaret Lea, a young, unworldly, bookish girl who is a bookseller in her father's shop. Vida has been confounding her biographers and fans for years by giving everybody a different version of her life, each time swearing it's the truth. Because of a biography that Margaret has written about brothers, Vida chooses Margaret to tell her story, all of it, for the first time. At their initial meeting, the conversation begins: "You have given nineteen different versions of your life story to journalists in the last two years alone." She [Vida] shrugged. "It's my profession. I'm a storyteller." "I am a biographer, I work with facts." The game is afoot and Margaret must spend some time sorting out whether or not Vida is actually ready to tell the whole truth. There is more here of Margaret discovering than of Vida cooperating wholeheartedly, but that is part of Vida's plan. The transformative power of truth informs the lives of both women by story's end, and The Thirteenth Tale is finally and convincingly told. --Valerie Ryan
Product Description
Sometimes, when you open the door to thepast, what you confront is your destiny.Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchantingstories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate livesfor herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about herextraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret forso long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her ownpainful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret ismesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautifuland willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess,a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 764
 Read The Bronte Sisters Or Daphne Du Maurier Instead March 19, 2010
Susan Y. Schoonover (Boulder, CO)
I was eager to read this novel since I am a lover of gothic romances such as JANE EYRE and REBECCA, both novels to which THE THIRTEENTH TALE has been compared. Unfortunately this more contemporary book failed to engage me and I struggled to finish it.
Margaret, the heroine of THE THIRTEENTH TALE is a shy bookish type. She is "haunted" throughout her life by her identical twin. This twin rather melodramatically died so that she could live according to the plot. Margaret is emotionally estranged from her mother who has never recovered from the circumstances of her birth and this was one of several facets of the novel that did not seem credible to me. Anyway our part time writer and full time bookstore employee Margaret is suddenly chosen to be the biographer for a famous dying female novelist named Vida Winter. Vida has never told the truth about her own background which involves insanity, incest, a burned mansion, two decidedly unusual twins and a couple of secret illegitimate children. Vida tells her story so slowly that Margaret has to do some sleuthing on her own to unveil the many secrets most of which have all ready been way overused in similar novels.
One of the main elements that make most traditional gothic novels so appealing is the appearance of an exciting and somewhat dangerous love interest for the heroine such as Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester or the narrator of Rebecca's Maxim. Though a love interest for Margaret does appear near the end of the book he is not particularly interesting and the reader does not learn much about him and certainly not enough to make the heart pound faster. THE THIRTEENTH TALE reminded me a lot of the two novels Australian Kate Morton has recently published in the United States. Though Morton's books are far from perfect I prefer either of them to THE THIRTEENTH TALE.
Gothic mystery and the missing thirteenth tale March 17, 2010
Michelle Boytim (Tucson, AZ USA)
This story involves an introverted young woman biographer who is chosen by a reclusive well known writer to pen her life story. The challenge is that Vida, the writer, has never told the same story twice about her life, so Margaret has no idea if they are all lies or if each holds a grain of truth. Margaret journeys to Yorkshire to work with Vida in a very gothic country home. I enjoyed the mystery of the book and the interactions between Margaret and Vida. The tale drew me in and more than once, I wish I could have read Vida's book. There were many twists and turns, but I found the story to be believable. I thought some of it was a little overwrought, but on the whole it was a good book and a page-turner.
 I really liked this read ! March 12, 2010
G. Winn (Stockbridge, Michigan USA)
I found this book a really delightful read . I liked the story line ..it never got dull and I did not guess til almost the end what the heck WAS going on.. which happens rarely..I felt it read well, good development and flow.. I don't think you will be dissapointed. My only dissapointment was when I finished it.. AND IT CAME IN KINDLE FORMAT..
The Thirteenth Tale March 11, 2010
Lawrence L. Johnson (Kersey, Pennsylvania)
The delivery was timely and the book is a treasure! From beginning to end this story entwines one into the lives of the characters and always presents an element of surprise and intrigue. This was a fun read and I would recommend this seller without hesitation!
An Old-Fashioned Tale March 11, 2010
S. B. Anderson (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Thirteenth Tale" is Diane Setterfield's debut novel, much praised for its literary quality and the return to "good old-fashioned writing". I do believe in progress and, if I want good old-fashioned writing, I pick up a Hemingway or a Dickens. Be that as it may, Setterfield's novel is engaging and rather interesting, even if I do dislike a perpetual gloominess and generally chilly atmosphere in any novel.
Margaret is a bookworm who spends her life surrounded by her father's old and invaluable books. She is also a writer, finding obscure people and topics to write about. When she receives a letter from a famous writer, Vida Winter, Margaret is intrigued. Ms. Winter is a recluse and a most prolific English writer, having written fifty three books during her career. Though exceptionally prolific, Ms. Winter is aggressively private and stand-offish, to the chagrin of many a journalist who attempted to write her life story.
Ms. Winter surprised Margaret by offering her a commission of writing her official biography. Margaret at first declines, but gets involved in the excellent storytelling of Vida Winter, who takes Margaret on a journey of the life that led to Vida becoming Vida, starting with her grandparents. Appealing to Margaret's own private ghosts, Vida weaves her final story on her own terms - meaning no questions allowed. Margaret is introduced to a wealthy English family who slowly fell apart through the devious and violent behavior of Vida's relatives, behavior that led to actions well-hidden and almost forgotten. The story has it all: mysterious deaths, runaway children, mental problems, secret children, fires and seduction.
It took me a while to read the first part of the book (this also happened to me with "Atonement"), and I persistently fell asleep while trying to push through to a more interesting part. I remember the numerous cups of hot cocoa that Margaret had, as well as her process of sharpening specific pencils. As with "Atonement", I gave myself a pep-talk each time I picked the book back up. Half-way through the book, the story started to pick up.
Most people like a good mystery, and "The Thirteenth Tale" has all the makings of one. It is not about the realism of a story, but the way the story is told. I read the second part of the novel in one gulp, maybe because I started ignoring Margaret's cups of cocoa and maybe because she stopped feeling sorry for herself as much. I must admit that Vida Winter's story was irresistible and engaging, once it truly got going.
Setterfield seems to be a very promising author, though I would have to prepare myself for another of her books. While I understand that many readers love this style of writing, I am not one of them, and this is merely my opinion.
All in all, "The Thirteenth Tale" is a relatively good mystery novel, with a good plot that spans five generations in all. Setterfield did a good job connecting these generations through the realization of the dysfunctionality of Vida Winter's family. I found the novel too long and too gloomy, but its literary value is nonetheless undeniable. Recommended.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 764
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