

Loading... The Thirteenth Tale (2006)by Diane Setterfield
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9788426416049 Miss Vida Winter, a writer has spent 6 decades not only writing stories but also creating stories in the midst of answering interview questions from reporters. Vida has her own reasons for sidestepping questions with stories. But a reporter from the Banbury Herald has haunted her as he had simply asked her to tell him the truth. Miss Margaret Lea works at Lea’s Antiquarian Booksellers with her father. It is primarily a place to read. Margaret prefers to read old novels rather than contemporary or a mixture. Her hobby is writing biographical essays giving life again to the individuals with fame so fleeting and long since forgotten. Vida has written Margaret an intriguing letter asking for her presence at Angelfield House in Oxfordshire. As Vida has made specific arrangements for this visit to her residence Margaret has actually been summoned. Vida is ready to tell the truth to Margaret. Margaret hasn’t even read any of Vida Winter’s books. Margaret doesn’t write biographies of the living. Will Vida Winter tell the truth if Margaret Lea accepts the invitation? This is a mesmerizing read that captivates attention from the first sentence to the last. To realize this gothic tale, haunting and gripping, beautifully written as a story within a story, is Diane Setterfield’s debut novel is extraordinary. My favorite quote of the novel appeared early. After reading Vida Winter’s letter, Margaret Lea shares: "There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic." Of the letter Margaret said, "For I was spellbound. Of Diane Setterfield’s novel, I was spellbound. Book clubs will appreciate the "Discussion Points" available at the end of the novel. There is also guidance within "Enhance Your Book Club Experience that may be utilized to enhance the experience of all readers of the novel. Not to be missed is "A Conversation with Diane Setterfield" providing fascinating answers of her own to interview questions. A new favorite, kindred book. I devoured this one in just two days. I couldn't get enough of the story, and the story within, and they way the two unfolded and intertwined. It has everything: romance, ghosts, scandal... I found it to be brilliant, and absolutely didn't want it to end. A very good, modern (although the time setting is somewhat vague) semi-gothic sort of read with mysterious goings-on at an decaying estate, odd twins, faithful servants, an extraordinarily competent governess, mad women and questions of identity---all that good stuff. Themes of abandonment, loss, isolation, longing for love. A ghost or two. Maybe. I enjoyed it mightily. 2014 A world-famous but enigmatic novelist finally wants to tell her life story. She asks an antique bookseller to be her biographer. The bookseller has never read anything by the novelist, has little writing experience herself, and is dubious about the novelist's intentions. Why would a celebrated author need the help of this mousy young woman? The first third of this modern gothic mystery is a wonderful, sprawling discovery of fascinating people, meticulously organized bookshelves, and countryside estates. The sumptuous prose takes its time to describe the world without ever lingering too long. The audiobook narrators use their rich, tremulous British accents to make the characters feel real. The second third is just plot. It’s a decent plot about neglect, loneliness, grief, and insanity, but I missed the feeling of being swept off my feet. I thought I would end up disliking the book, but the final third captivated me again with its emotional denouement. A few readers may predict how things out, but most will be surprised and satisfied.
A family saga with Gothic overtones, dark secrets, lost twins, a tragic fire, a missing manuscript and over-obvious nods to Jane Eyre, Rebecca and The Woman in White, it reads like something a creative writing class might write as a committee, for the sole purpose of coming up with a novel that would suit a book group (and tellingly, there are "Reading Group Study Notes" at the back suggesting topics for discussion). The Thirteenth Tale is not without fault. The gentle giant Aurelius is a stock character, and the ending is perhaps a little too concerned with tying up all loose ends. But it is a remarkable first novel, a book about the joy of books, a riveting multi-layered mystery that twists and turns, and weaves a quite magical spell for most of its length. "The Thirteenth Tale" keeps us reading for its nimble cadences and atmospheric locales, as well as for its puzzles, the pieces of which, for the most part, fall into place just as we discover where the holes are. And yet, for all its successes -- and perhaps because of them -- on the whole the book feels unadventurous, content to rehash literary formulas rather than reimagine them. A book that you wake in the middle of the night craving to get back to...Timeless, charming, a pure pleasure to read...The Thirteenth Tale is a book to savor a dozen times. Belongs to Publisher SeriesHeyne (40549) Is contained in
When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales. No library descriptions found.
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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