This book was an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the story line & plot twists. The stories of Vida Winter & Margaret Lea will be on my mind for quite awhile. ( )

My Friends Lunch Bunch pick 2008. Had a large group and lots of fun discussing this book. Made a long list of all the elements from a typical Gothic novel. A young women whose father owns a bookshop and who has only a biography of an obscure woman to her credit is asked to write the biography of a famous novelist. This novelist invents her life and changes the story of her own life as easily as she invents and changes her stories. Expected something with the twins, but not the twist at the end. Great read.

An aunt recommended this to me, saying "I think you'll like it". I was skeptical, but since I'd heard some people mention it here on LT (though I can't remember who, unfortunately), I decided to pick it up anyway. I started reading it when I came home from the library... and it went a bit slow for a few days. It was a busy weekend, there were a lot of things to do, so I had some trouble getting into it. Then Monday night rolled around, and I was able to sit quietly with a coffee and read for a bit...

...and was hooked. The story pulled me in, deeper and deeper, until I was so lost in the tale that the twist/climax/surprise (whatever you want to call it) actually came as a surprise. As the pieces fell together, I was very pleased with how Setterfield had crafted her novel - with skill, care, and a lot of foresight.

The book itself is, in essence, a story about stories. About books, and authors, and immortality. The premise is this: a dying author, who has woven tales about herself to interviewers for years and years, finally wants to 'tell the truth' to a biographer. The truth is perhaps more than anyone bargained for, and yet, still subtle enough to make perfect sense when all is said and done.

A very enjoyable read. ( )

By far one of the best choices the book club has made. I never thought I'd be reading a gothic tale and enjoying it. I have recommended this book to so many and everyone loves it. ( )

A modern gothic novel in the tradition of Jane Eyre.I really loved this novel. It is smart, sensitive, engaging, and suspenseful.

Margaret Lea is hired to wite the biography of best-selling author Vida Winter. Winter has made a habit of telling widely different tales of her life to interviewers, but now she is dying, and wants to tell her true story. She picks Margaret Lea to tell it to, a reclusive bookstore clerk who is herself emotionally damaged.

The tale takes many emotional twists and is full of revelations about the past. Winter was a twin - or was she? Her twin is dead - or is she?

I was disappointed when I finished the book to find that Setterfield has not yet written another novel. More! I want more! ( )