Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    Ebook532 pages9 hours

    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

    By Diane Setterfield

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Instant #1 New York Times bestseller

    “Readers will feel the magnetic pull of this paean to words, books and the magical power of story.”—People

    “Eerie and fascinating.”—USA TODAY

    Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny.

    Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness—featuring the beautiful and 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtria Books
    Release dateSep 12, 2006
    ISBN9781416540533
    Author

    Diane Setterfield

    Diane Setterfield is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Tale, and a former academic, specializing in twentieth-century French literature, particularly the works of Andre Gide. She lives in Oxford, England.

    Read more from Diane Setterfield

    Related to The Thirteenth Tale

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Mr. Rain Jacket

      May 20, 2019

      Mr. Rain Jacket
      10 min read

    • Article

      Rose - Tinted Glasses

      Nov 10, 2021

      From the corner of her eye, Becca watched a small pack of drunk pixies adding salt into her grandmother’s bone china sugar pot. The sugar pot was the oldest thing in the house, even older than grandmother herself. There would be hell to pay if it bro

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue

      Oct 7, 2020

      RELEASED OUT NOW! 560 pages | Hardback/ebook Author VE Schwab Publisher Titan Books This story weaves together a number of tropes – a deal with the Devil (or in this case the darkness), the damned soul condemned to wander for all eternity – and yet c

      1 min read

    • Article

      Get It In Writing

      Mar 1, 2023

      Get It In Writing
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Bookish Types

      Jun 6, 2021

      The Bookish Types
      9 min read

    • Article

      Amanda Prowse

      Jul 1, 2021

      ‘Waiting To Begin, my current book, is Bessie’s story and focuses on two days in her life. On her sixteenth birthday, she is looking forward to a golden future. This day is set against the glorious backdrop of the 1980s where neon leg warmers and dan

      5 min read

    • Article

      In Praise of Darkness

      Aug 15, 2018

      HEATHER LANIER is the author of the nonfiction book Teaching in the Terrordome as well as two poetry chapbooks. Her essays have appeared in Salon, the Sun, Fourth Genre, Brevity, and elsewhere, and her TED talk on the incomplete stories we tell ourse

      8 min read

    • Article

      Losing My Manuscript

      Aug 18, 2021

      IN 2015 I left an editorial job that I really liked at a magazine I’d always loved to finish writing the book I couldn’t stop thinking about. I tried writing chapters before work, after work, in the cafeteria on my lunch break, on weekends between er

      12 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Dustin Kurtz

      Dec 23, 2019

      Chalk it up in the How Books Are Bad column, I guess: They shore you up as a reading subject instead of letting you blur out. What a misdeed. The post A Year in Reading: Dustin Kurtz appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Daring to Show My Dark Side

      Feb 12, 2024

      Daring to Show My Dark Side
      4 min read

    • Article

      Star Letter

      Dec 1, 2022

      Star Letter
      6 min read

    • Article

      Flesh On The Bones

      Jun 1, 2023

      I’m an under-writer. I tend to trace a story out using the faintest of lines, leaving half of the page blank, leaving half of the words in my head. Then I have to go back and shore up what I’ve written, making sure I’m not expecting a great feat of t

      6 min read

    • Article

      Shelf Life

      Feb 1, 2024

      ©Rachel Pendlebury Red Side Story is my current book, published this month. It is the sequel to Shades of Grey, a book I wrote ten years ago, a dystopian thriller set in a world where the social hierarchy is governed by the colours you can see. Grey

      7 min read

    • Article

      Chuck Wendig

      Aug 7, 2023

      Chuck Wendig
      11 min read

    • Article

      Suzanne Scanlon’s Life Was Shaped by Books—for Better and for Worse

      Apr 16, 2024

      I'm uncomfortable with the simple statement of “books saved us” as much as I agree they do. The post Suzanne Scanlon’s Life Was Shaped by Books—<br>for Better and for Worse appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Why Do Found Texts Fascinate Us So Much?

      Jun 6, 2019

      We don’t know the writer, nor the intended recipient, nor the intention. The text comes from nowhere and finds us as much as we find it. It haunts us. The post Why Do Found Texts Fascinate Us So Much? appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Edan Lepucki

      Dec 9, 2018

      To start, a list of the books I enjoyed very, very much: I expected to like Lydia Kiesling’s debut novel, The Golden State, not only because she is my friend, but because I only made her be my friend after reading her genius nonfiction on this very w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Oct 7, 2021

      In the October Writing Magazine, Piers Blofeld argues that including one’s gender identification along with one’s signature is irrelevant, a form of virtue signalling, a form of ageism, and exclusionary. As a trans-woman, I don’t have the privilege o

      5 min read

    • Article

      Winners Take All!

      Mar 7, 2024

      Congratulations to everyone who entered the Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize 2023! There were 61 entries in the chapter book prize category and it was very tricky whittling them down. However, we are delighted to share our top three winning ent

      7 min read

    • Article

      Celeste Ng

      Nov 2, 2020

      Celeste Ng
      12 min read

    • Article

      How Postcards From My Mother Helped Me Survive Childhood

      Mar 3, 2017

      For years, my mother wrote to me every day. I’d been sent away to boarding school and for the first weeks was forbidden to call home­. I was eleven. This was just before mobile phones came beeping and clicking into the lives of everyday people. I di

      4 min read

    Reviews for The Thirteenth Tale

    4/5

    6,610 ratings490 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Loved this book!
    • 5/5
      I loved this story.
    • 5/5
      Wow, just wow.
    • 5/5
      A delicious read.
    • 5/5
      A thrilling book.
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book on CD. Unexpected twists and turns in the plot and characters and several sub-plots keep the story interesting. British setting and reader. I'd like to read the book sometime.
    • 5/5
      A reread for book club. I think I'd written off this book as enjoyable but light, largely plot-driven. This time I notice some wonderful prose and turns of words. Along with the gothic-y plot (which I love), there is some very nice writing. I wish she'd written another.
    • 5/5
      There was an 'otherness' about this book that was hard to define, from its focus on an unconventional family in a grand old house which initially put me in mind of "Gormenghast", to its seeming determination to operate independently of time. This last point was the most striking thing for me, and since it cropped up in the reading group questions at the end I'm guessing it was deliberate. It takes place partly in the present and partly in the past, and gradually the two threads of the story come together for a dramatic conclusion. The narrator, bookworm and amateur biographer Margaret comes across as faintly fuddy-duddy, and nobody in the "present" thread of the story uses any of the trappings of modern life (mobile phones, internet etc). Likewise, as she goes about researching the life of cantankerous author Vida Winter, a sort of redheaded Barbara Cartland with a mysterious past, I worked out the numbers and estimated that some of the action should be taking place during the war, yet no mention is ever made of it, or indeed of any world events. It could be taking place at any time, and as such I guess it won't age, being as it were, pre-aged.It was a bold task to undertake, being the voice of a highly successful novelist, who is effectively turning her own life story into a compelling tale. But compelling it was. You perhaps need to give it a few chapters, but it does take a hold. The detective work and the occasional creepiness of it are pulled off brilliantly and I galloped through the last hundred pages, desperate to know what happened. A breathtakingly accomplished first novel.
    • 3/5
      ‘Everybody has a story. It’s like families. You might not know who they are, might have lost them, but they exist all the same. You might drift apart or you might turn your back on them, but you can’t say you haven’t got them. Same goes for stories." So says Vida Winter, the fictional subject of the ongoing interview that forms the central focus here, as told to her authorized biographer, Margaret Lea. And over the course of the story, we learn quite a bit about the lives and histories of both the world-famous-yet-mysterious old author Winter and the bookish, young biographer Lea, including why they were drawn to each other in the first place. There are lots of psychological aspects to this one, particularly with regard to the psychology of twins. And an interesting eponymous mystery, as well. Overall, if I had to summarize this one with one word, that word would be "uneven." At times, the story flowed smoothly and lyrically and the pages turned and turned. At other times, things slowed to a clunky crawl and it was something of an effort to continue on while hoping that things would take a turn back to the better. All in all, the first and last thirds of this one are terrific, and the author does well with both the table-setting and the resolution aspects of things. On the other hand, the middle third leaves a lot to be desired and really needs some stronger editing. If I were rating the beginning and the end, I'd give each four stars; if grading only the middle, I'd give it one. But it's worth slogging through the slow and awkward parts because things ultimately end as strongly as they began, both in terms of the quality of the narrative and the ultimate fates of all involved.
    • 5/5
      Margaret Lea, antique book seller and occasional biographer returns, returns to her apartment to she finds a letter. It is from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists, Vida Winter. She is gravely ill, but finally wants to recount her life story before it is too late (she has given fake biographies/interviews in the past). Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer. As Vida Winter unfolds her story (replete with madness; incest; a pair of twins; a devastating fire; and of course a ghost), she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret grew up in a household of mourning, but she never knew why until the day she opened a box of papers underneath her parent's bed and found the birth and death certificates of a twin sister of whom she never knew. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. I found this book fascinating, a modern version of a gothic /mystery/ghost novel with great twists and turns. The characters were well done particularly Margaret and Vida. 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Loved this story: creepy, intriguing, mysterious, heartwarming and hard to put down.
    • 4/5
      "All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him about when he was born. What you get won't be the truth; it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story." In The Thirteenth Tale, by Dianne Sutterfield, Vida Winter, a popular and reclusive author has told her life story many times to many audiences. But she's never told them the truth. With her health failing, she summons biographer Margaret Lea to tell the true story once and for all. Margaret is a young woman whose birth also contains a painful secret.The book is a Gothic mystery that references and resembles Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and the like. It is very well written, contains rich, vivid characters, and a wonderful mystery. I recommend it.
    • 5/5
      A book about books and reading, full of great characters, charming settings, mystery and intrigue. Wonderfully written, hard to put down.
    • 4/5
      For Margaret Lea, books are her world. Working with her father, a dealer in rare books, she has long felt that something, or someone, was missing from her life. Popular author Vida Winter wants her life story to be recorded before she dies, and she wants Margaret to be that biographer. “Everybody has a story” according to Vida, and in this novel, the stories and lives of these two women become intertwined. A bit of a ghost story with more than one mystery, this tale will cast its spell on you. Will Vida be truthful with Margaret, or will her remarks be just another fanciful tale? Will Margaret find the peace she seeks? This well-written novel with endearing characters will keep you turning pages as it twists its way to the exciting finish.
    • 4/5
      This is one of my go to books when I need to escape (as one does with a good book). I enjoy the tale within a tale and the gradual reveal of the events at Anglefield, with the twist in the plot.My only disappointment is that Vida Winter, and her books do not exist; based on the information in the books I would love to read them.
    • 4/5
      A book about books. A book within a book. Reference to books, living in a bookstore, being given a prescription to read Sherlock Holmes!What is not to love about this book. I picked it up after reading a particular historic novel that was totally out of my typical reading genre universe and devoured it with grateful sighs of satisfaction and occasional mumbles of "that's more like it!"This book has it all. A fantastic plot, excellent writing, a mystery, several plot twists and a satisfying ending. I loved the way she gave us an extra chapter that would answer all our dangling questions of ..."What happened to....? What became of...?" After I read the book I made a list of questions I had that were unanswered. Can one have it all? I will not list them as I do not want to spoil the read for anyone who may stumble on this humble outburst of words. But.....I know that if my questions are answered, which are logical questions, it would demand that the book be concluded in a different way.As my husband whispers harshly at me while at the movies and I object to a particular illogical and totally loony plot jump "It a movie, Sherlock".My point being, not every book can be edited by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Excellent read.
    • 4/5
      Yes, I do read grown-up books. I actually liked this one though at times it could get the literary pretensionness I dislike. But a great story all around
    • 2/5
      If it hadn't contained some fantastic quotes about books and reading, this would have been a one-star book.

    • 4/5
      LOVED this on audio. I don't think I would have be as entranced with the story if I had read the book. It was a facinating, intriguing story that completely surprised me in the end. Only problem I had with it was Margaret's obsession with her dead twin sister she never knew. It seemed a little crazy. But maybe that was just me.
    • 4/5
      Vida Winter, a renowned storyteller, is finally ready to tell her own story truthfully. She has told previous biographers different stories but now that she knows she is dying, she hires Margaret Lea to come to her private estate to listen and record her story. There are conditions - she cannot ask any questions and must work on Ms. Winter's timetable. But once she starts talking, there's no turning back.Her powerful story is compelling, mesmerizing, with twists and turns that make the reader stop, turn around, say what was that, and then just continue to plunge forward seeking more. Just as Margaret searches for answers without being able to ask any questions, the reader follows along the path of the tale wondering when the truths will be revealed, all the details discovered which will finally tell all. And then the end, so startling, unexpected, the reader staggers under the final disclosures.I don't know what else to say. At the very beginning I wasn't excited but the more I got into the story, the more I couldn't put it down. Just as I thought I was at a place where my mind could take a breather, wham, I was hit with another revelation that knocked me for a loop. Highly recommended - completely captivating.
    • 4/5
      First, I have to say that this book was fun. It had lots of twists and little mysteries, and it also had all sorts of references to other books (mostly 19th century, and most notably, Jane Eyre). The author does a good job of capturing a modern Gothic feel. There is a reclusive dying author, a remote country estate--in the Yorkshire moors, of course--topiary gardens, mysterious babies, multiple sets of twins, insane relatives, possible ghosts, devoted servants, dysfunctional families, and even incest. It's also clear that this is a STORY, and the reader shouldn't be too concerned with making it line up with real life.In a few sentences, it is the story of Margaret, a spinsterish writer of obscure biographies, going to the country estate of best-selling author Vida Winter in order to write her biography. Although she is greatly renowned, somehow Winter has only ever told lies about her earlier life. Through Margaret, she sets out to set the record straight.Although I enjoyed listening to The Thirteenth Tale, at times the readers' voices came off and haughty, pretentious, and a little bored-and-above-it-all (and this coming from someone who loves British accents). Also, Margaret's angst over her deceased twin is overblown and overly dramatic. Puh-leeze. And finally, all the cocoa drinking got to be a bit much. Enough with the juvenile behaviour, Margaret--pour yourself a scotch.This book borrows from, and plays with the themes from several 19th century English novels, but it doesn't feel like a 19th century English novel. I couldn't place my finger on what it reminded me of until a reviewer at Amazon identified it--it felt just a little like Flowers in the Attic. Which is a bit unfair, because it is a much better book. But at least I found it fun, anyway.Recommended for: many, many, many 5 star reviews tell me that most people like this one.
    • 5/5
      Next book for book club! My pick this month. Let's hope I picked well!

      I really enjoyed this book. It is a book written by a book lover, which is interesting. Also the main story is about twins. My mother is a twin and it gave me an insight to what it would be like to be a twin. It was a well done story! If you like stories filled with everything I highly recommend this book. I have been eyeing it for awhile and I am glad that I finally took the time to read it.
    • 4/5
      Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is one of those rare books that I stumble across and cannot put down. Even now that I have finished it, I still have it sitting in my lap as I write this review – as if I am going to open it back up and begin reading it again on some random page. This sentiment is one that some of the characters in the novel, and indeed any lover of reading, can relate to. The primary characters share a love of reading, with some of their favorites being the Bronte sisters, Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, and Jane Austen. Setterfield does an amazing job of incorporating themes from all these writers in her book, making it a sort of a modern day gothic novel filled with dreary English moors, a dilapidated house, insanity, a sensible but curious governess, and, of course, a ghost. I think some of my favorite elements are the subtle references to Northanger Abbey, which can be seen when the doctor questions Margaret about her reading (specifically asking her about the Bronte’s and Jane Austen). He suggests that her illness is one that “afflicts ladies of romantic imagination,” and gives her a “prescription” of Sherlock Holmes as treatment.I love that this novel is a story within a story, and throughout it all you are left with the feeling that you are not quite getting all the information. It is the “true” life story of writer Vida Winters as she tells it within the context of the story of Margaret Lea, an amateur biographer that Winters has chosen to tell the story to. As Winters progresses through her tale, however, you can never really decide if she simply isn’t telling the truth, or if she is merely lying by omission. Then again, maybe she has actually given Margaret the whole truth, but has disguised it so well that it is not immediately recognizable. Either way, by the end of the novel the story has all come out, the mysteries solved, and everyone is exactly where they should be. I think Margaret explains it best when she talks about why she prefers old novels:I prefer proper endings. Marriages and deaths, noble sacrifices and miraculous restorations, tragic separations and unhoped-for-reunions, great falls and dreams fulfilled; these, in my view, constitute an ending worth the wait. They should come after adventures, perils, dangers and dilemmas, and wind everything up nice and neatly.Setterfield has achieved just that with The Thirteenth Tale, and anyone who enjoys these classic novels will probably like it as well. So the only question that remains is which one of them should I pick up to reread now?
    • 4/5
      Our group all enjoyed this book. Filled with twists and turns. Made for a very good discusion.
    • 5/5
      What a delightful surprise! Not because I didn't expect much from this book, but - on the contrary - I had very high expectations and the book met them. I bought this novel years ago, and I didn't know anything about the actual plot; I was sold by the positive reports circulating around my bookstore, and the pitch that it was mysterious, great for book lovers, and shared a spirit with Jane Eyre. These recommendations were too enticing, and I bought it without even reading the synopsis, then put it on the shelf back home, and it was lost, despite my interest. Over the holiday season, I spotted this book on another person's shelf (!), dug my own copy up out of obscurity, and had a delightful Christmas reading.Since I never looked further than second hand reports, an air of mystery that surrounded the book, and that was appropriate, considering the plot of the novel. Margaret Lea is a reserved girl who leads a quiet life working in her father's book store. He makes most of their money on occasional big sales of special collector books, so they spend most of their time tidying and organizing books, cleaning, and reading and reading and reading. Margaret also has a hobby of writing biographies. Her shop has an abundance of old diaries and letters, mostly by people that are unknown and forgotten in history. She likes to read their stories and write a memoir that is a eulogy for a life covered in the dust of the past. Most of these are unpublished, with just a few making appearances in academic circles. Therefore she is greatly surprised when Vida Winters, England's most famous living writer, contacts her with a request for Margaret to write her life story. Though lit with fame, Vida Winters has maintained a reserve as powerful as Margaret's. Her history is shrouded in mystery, and though many interviewers have sought to pierce the veil, she has evaded them all with clever stories. Now, though, Miss Winters is dying and she wants to tell the truth. Margaret agrees to meet her, but it is only when Miss Winters mentions twins that Margaret decides to take on the job of recording her story. Tucked away in Vida Winter's remote home, Miss Lea and Miss Winters fall into a twilight where the story of the past is more real than the present, and the startling truth of Miss Winter's origins is finally revealed. Or so she claims. Margaret knows that Miss Winters is a storyteller to the bone, and conducts her own brief investigations on the side to ensure that she isn't receiving a new tale, meeting other people with their own stories to tell. As soon as I started reading, I had a feeling I would love this story. Certain writers have a way with language so powerful that I would read whatever they wrote, from a novel to a newspaper ad. Setterfield demonstrates this talent. Her prose is fluid, haunting, and intimate. Her figurative language is not as shocking or creative as some writers I have read, but nonetheless evocative. Metaphors are perfectly suited to the narrative stream, images are crisp, original, attractive. I was attracted to Margaret immediately, partly because she was somewhat similar to me, and partly because the characterization is strong in this book. Whether they are people in the present, or ghosts peopling Miss Winter's life story, all of the characters are complex, rounded individuals. A passage in the book describes how Miss Winter's views her written characters, that they are ghosts that evince an almost physical reality in her world until she writes them down and thereby exorcises them, and she describes a painting of Charles Dickens where he is sleeping and his characters are running amok around him. I certainly felt that the characters in this novel had a similar strength of presence that extended past the page.The idea that stories have a physical presence is a theme in this book about books. Truly, lovers of books should read this story. It extols and celebrates - even venerates - literature and writing and reading. The main characters are serious readers, and they see stories everywhere. Miss Winters tells her story, which occupies the majority of the novel space, but within that story are scientists writing articles and ghosts reading books, and a library that is a focal point of the house and the action. The people Margaret meets have their own stories to tell. Aurelius tells her his life story, which in turn becomes his mother Mrs. Love's story. Margaret's parents have a story which they hid from her, and Margaret has a story she is unwilling to share. Some of these are oral, some are written, and frequently they are a blend of these two ancient traditions of storytelling. Books themselves are everywhere. Libraries and bookstores, and many references to classics, from Dickens to Doyle, with a heavy emphasis on Jane Eyre, which has thematic implications as well. In addition, multiple letters, a diary, and excerpts from Miss Winter's novels are included. The power of the written word, and the power of the spoken word, are exhibited with dizzying power to transform, to destroy, to heal, and to redeem. As a person who has always been mystified by language and the power of words, reading this story was just a delight. The narrative skillfully integrates the different stories and written excerpts in a plot that is suspenseful and kept me wanting to read more. I was equally interested in the past account and the present developments. The clever deconstruction of the typical format of a story - beginning, middle, and end - was fun. Also, there was a lot of depth; sometimes, fun stories are just quick reads with good characters and setting and plot, and their main appeal is in the entertainment value. This story had more under its surface than that. I have only focused on one major theme of the novel, that of stories and story telling, but there are many other layers to this tale. I finished the novel with the happy satisfaction of completing a book that was enjoyable while being artistically sound, a story that drew me in on multiple levels with an intricacy worthy of literature.
    • 5/5
      This is a story in a story in a story. Margret Lea is a meek and mild bookseller's daughter, a biographer of obscure and long dead ordinary people. Then a letter arrives inviting her to write the biography of one of the best loved and well-known authors in England.Margret takes a trip to meet Vida Winter - an eccentric old woman with cranberry red hair, emerald green eyes and a quick wit. At the first interview Margret began to wonder - was this woman really telling the truth?? She left with 3 facts she was to check - if they were true she would begin the biography.But, Margret was hooked long before the facts were proven. Vida could weave a tale - the country hung on each of her books. This was the woman who wrote a book called Thirteen Tales and then only included 12. The entire country waited for the 13th tale. But, Margret had never read a one of her books or really cared about her...until she actually met Vida.Now she is staying in Vida's house, hearing an odd atonal music, dreaming of her missing twin as she listens to the odd and twisted tale of the Angelfield twins. The deeper Margret is immersed in the tale the murkier the truth and reality become.And then...everything shifts -all reality is viewed through a new lens and Vida becomes something else all together.I was not hooked until 1/2 way through this book. I enjoyed it -but I didn't really care. I couldn't feel much for Vida or Margret. But as Vida's story rolled out and the big secret came - I couldn't put it down! This is one of those that surprises you. I thought I knew what was going on..but. NO!A great winter read!
    • 4/5
      I'm in a good mood hence the four stars (Really it's about a 3 1/2). The story is well written, reasonably well placed and just creepy enough to keep you interested. However, it seemed to be trying quite hard to be a lot creepier and it just didn't work.

      Well worth a read but not the haunting story I was looking for.
    • 4/5
      It's a corking tale and no mistake. Great characters, great plot, rather less great writing.The style was what annoyed me, intensely so for the first few chapters. It's far too self-conscious, too aware of itself, a little too Daphne Du Maurier. Why does no one speak like a real person with contractions?! Everyone here is 'I am' and 'he was'-ing like the cast of The Godfather. I also failed to be convinced by the supernatural elements and the whole business of people so terribly cerebral and bookish they forget to eat felt very cliché.But the tale is all. The story is undoubtedly compelling, the ending (to me) a delightful surprise. The plot took me over and kept me turning those pages so that my initial irritation at the writing style was pretty soon forgotten.A very enjoyable book, perfect companion for a long train journey or a winter's night but not a book that entirely lives up to its hype; it's not one I'll read and re-read, not one that continues to live in the mind after you've turned the last page. It's not quite a 4* book, I want to give it 3 and a half but I'll be generous and average up because it was, despite its faults, very enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      This was a book club book and DD had already read it. She said she had enjoyed it. I liked the book but the ghost bits and the hidden child really didn't sit well with me. They were portrayed as ghosts, not as funny feelings or something similar. I sort felt that the third child was put there to solve the problem. There were hints within the book but very minor.I loved Aurelius as a character and also Miss Winter, she seemed lovely to me and I felt saddened when I read of her illness.
    • 4/5
      Just finished this book and I'm a bit torn. I was very much involved at the beginning of the story, then felt the pace slow down in the middle. And the ending? Good, but again didn't have quite the momentum of the start. This was one of the first books I read on my Kobo, so I think the novelty of the medium is one of the things that kept me reading straight through to the end.

    Book preview

    The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

     abook_preview_excerpt.html}ɒGDoڪۉ2ђ*Ig"_j@8WƤWm/jӟR_s#dw^z~:Rץ4U_>'~BMt?|}o޿zj/]6|0W0U?OosU/]?W8WM㮚ϱcu9Ǯzeb]na1NSKpwnsctkẫK?s?TM: ]]~2q^Ve^闦P}3g#; »xSʦQLsHㄛhޟG956m}a`3j9t&4!4/;Ŗqбwmj`+C}o3lZ=vL;`<ȦpT#˶`> _c:gGطns#FzwMX[.ҢQvR送}a'eZBS M8K9٥՞m4n$~_?`eL! M?Dyމ~tQ[nK=:ҜpN~iFawx`j J=66b0h~鯦`d_=TlŌ8:Km 6[24Kk2jUr⥜Øbswcu N¨Qԙ>5:~M{p H&yU=vqK؋HM6yu 6``h]ʂӥoFh-hi0w"-EZ:4nѳ,#E.Ac0s]J(IγYRb_(a3@Fd:XJ Ʉ[c4'Mi24/qu:7f[Z!y`{q{ RSImW_۬'&)K$ 2 YUez ^L7Iyك[I7 >6#_H*&RG344(Ca\WTN[ v&-" KxN,E(pEw'zv1thW ]Z,f5^qmDL,S(3Taʛ]D3ibv^wBsy-'36ؚGx ocOc9gwɄΩg07O7mѓ OnA36E`Le>1 Xʯo_S1lTwOllS{~~O7t8!U~> gRRDviߛ3a^ i{-IcGn-$;q{ӓry{>a}MKRŽ܏0b@oMګ Epv?MFEˬ?a?C=h 1u.6H"Ur_6љٻ0gs]7Z{UM@NLhMIQL;k"2a'Gx ^Ug(7Cy<.!-]QwhWoW.aj=0L!ܦ~NnkܟÎK賁<5Od.{iE6=?PȟWG\{[8Um*đI?ASOz364uTlʠsü| {׺/aZ% Kpl0q'ם8CoՏW#4UE,:6Ga( sဘ % ¾8we wZQ[КSN >ܡ /K 2eڀ:1a\w~qDE"n]dsPOR>XA1i]30U"88٤#ȱ ^U?n1&ADHmt9RgwI4/f t3.AG8\XVIS2Ѿ.{1]3R.lR1r ?s;{6IvQqam&b߿yGVʼIVTil/ljINru`̆lb f| חuVܮ"'!,SBc5Nzk@hE{S)G2R-3QTf|M_zd&\Bs Fl}k<""ʸ7/qΌCEdV@[2lHWսqNZ۫i=TBE۰I?>@.]u]%9Hw?N}/x?d !'FŮ!{o7&&ߠd+̊vGue ƒ!f̄Dy *zW4`R-PAfޙth{A)N>%*IM./jC1n4Uo E]|ĚaHi’a|KN95dKؿ!  yơYUf{bdp5Y-$BTƩq.fwD agk˦Ǎ : ^65bϝ"0歰2L 5+w_4%'߿ ] u,Sqk7le!LIy4)M&QTDɝ-wN5w|GS"tKIlb$gDenfRY?7irKLz6(0 q7(0C؂G]_~?(FJ2&SfFxHI< ݀1!vfsȂeef[k 깼qews0x N;/oCbd8QBc΅C?14.`-F ]Ўe0˞"19r@bfC@ެ="VMH0Ə[{ƾԟ̗$(6`lIh-#us70'{ȞSI6>B\{_9E42A~;}ߙk`vMIv)3{,4fkӋU#O0ǗnKKg&RJ"zx/)DKJAu2D#P6LSwﲪ t2+pá}τi2("("ʵ Iώoq 9]LmqQx.d܌%y)t-p>PW*%gʂ [PP$MȝMJDf._ORko~\H`l,']O`Ӝgd2>&B%{@S%b.80`eiV M'"4k.lPAbNϿ-!9" 5z#y@{qu8 Ҳ`)![Y')q ",IZY^{AX G`J}-z=lCɘsmc"jܖ%,gV&Hlwi8`؂zMIn{@|}9W3l\/ڻJ/JnR말юY+yU& !xFD7R -A$DRd}K+Ȅ-!I'ǑIFJ@{fmO#Q_0+q6FȠ;h5Mt'"HG>wS(xgǤ!X1l-OM&#JD1'a!mUfاpe Ay@h曍$=!xƧ$we@w`2Ѱuhy ؋!sfDE@\;_LX::"5`%!-RLgHH)HoPOU7BȄX m($) 3`ǫ Pi.M}334,`V* $=Rw7Ư61&y3v8 .̭1)zFb0}KCB fD,AEc"9rVSZ[{m06zG]2(ŤiAJ[amzSple 䎡 ݫ'n|j6t;n6dW򫮌Wq 5wn<<fCϊ`FP{>^ Z{eň&T(egKpζ0y*< tJxAγ\_0 FFJ(N:2T.ENvxcV>Ksz}:S(lw5,{ˏT/=}{T$`EVr\(ƅH=GAҩFN.Hr`ۏ^7Ga|6t2>;ql=fbBAyTư`f9HL26q;zgb0/D`\hKu#)N f $X|c dɝ?i: 7A( m-z`~9}L.[";Jd Y6'a {4C\A:EłpoH@0vº@0g}s`p @p| Oτt9)!{*`.n/PX` O/'4=!ua(v\DhS70RJW/ɷ3 <î dZHFJ`(a)>2|lJpMf 3xU?S(}1[+LV =mZcoK8e 0nCݨE/עu74&!^:@X+w;c\s5l|e }9s̢vG+x .:~KUNb?͓*UtC.42"߅UH|쩇fiԾ9tr$ d"Ռ-w*mi63*1#H&@-y0nYثB?|mZcՂKLNؤAKSRPSW?`rE>akiƴ I`nrޜxR#7UO;*eS*%ՎL8-d ʍ /9s+( r*?CSJ͡:QNL\7i]-A gʤ% &wZ;/`i_!DfwD`m_s bT ,qua2򆜰פYY1[ctTWxec$5*\ pbxT&3߅ޖ|k3qȨ!\,b\v0čG v4z@[MCxX~R Ue 8|Q Ѳ EDÛ fX})=3GzNFҀxɍaK[71;T+ ɿI"yhYX>iH;nMa {`l؈/EbI$A 5LQYm`mn'`t@~B,%ùwI?_jYx9]TaR ,検m\P43vtSmci}AM$R@:;$椌VIw3(bӃYH!_cz'<*U4C bvOfR>~`BX(ZPsk@9(HwŪ\+CLsqqBU ;UVׁb h~1=\jUQJ 1Жc`"lA4D.u`3Ol]vrRFAcҎt2DYvW]w2I'JO/F>Uj|Α:OQ+ ' m$Iѩ{? em {pN'Q译\ EBLѿ\7!;pW] p4?nwqFXsB@]Kgem(݌n`ƾa5)fxҿ\)۶H`]͌Ͳy"R9=KlJXN "X%lZ]yҙloG:sXϥӉlWtH΅4{K{k@0<6OIsM­ @lphquqp׿U#T#uc}}-cb1}qi9 4L5]Bdq}n$^Ta@j*JE~;U|͹aI9s@e ͏pwM ޽׿/ʐ)9x`2|vF|Wm0࢒l<"^%O@OM! w*VbP@KOh <. t +>g;/MflcҨF A(.$bxW"ջhu/wa'oӏa$lT0 yv3yLIlHJʜ#~Oշ7wf"%MQE.X;I'dP D$ M+V hsE0!|GSG,褀L2MM1}ܩp"n#&} 4uy']"t{@= cKhQ 1{ͻ8R( CoYrH3RV0Lp6y1,=G}Gq-ClZ%tdd8\ ĦX᧞խ%*0xXj ԬYex= Ԟ^X0Gz fm,.Hd"DS vّv=sPPuW9Q;A1CgEVMOg)@jXݡbh$Qj׆P bʋe$5If^y3"3~miE x-vL9zDoq#z0Ov oCk[\ RĔt#vܱ2iWgD|\Um}} >HnKr#&d-Zs߰D2=s*R+1$G.˹rk;"Z~BF.ȍؒ^17fcy);GyqR݀aɻq:`U?9+F9eyPAҼ\5>N_q0 \Sj܁s37xضIŎB =y-f5jpF]ՙm+s^IsV4Ljm/6v^!2 ) zE񦠌xSe0. WWGvixyw,@8aYy$(7O"/=” R$shUe``ZTԱ RR`1\0NR꒵XbPiShB~k_u{鈦B_ɥ(AloV2L!x&?!Mg,sjxM'5~C뻍lXt/F8;EQ]/)e Z;,W8f9iA3H CagyԓN|ufG۱$20M.`:˦q@WH"8~cnF5SU=VDul1 )]SGo|ҙMىk`Yٚ}vA>\߀dZwdQn- e6vѓ 5F amzAN`\h:29Z6A1~a4QEzm9`F93Bdq:ԕLf=d?J$ hh`R]5lfgjjI9oO |E,[Lpskϑ-QS40V%z@~f"2j{݂LƹqașuHFuS2P 5pq L>f06OM"cPP%ߓg2A /w4ajg;6G 6MinruP܊(Sdt%4'yς%fu Hi/n$,]S'`z9e܇S]ܶw}7T=C>n'ukJ, :Jk{xjtիnoU!> Afr=C>W|yta,Vo)SJ%4@FQw9(d1!hvOj5{ZiM^(PJ{7 R kooޱɍ4^w7VT9%X_")w8[4=tc<&˃.'? ]P%g_ΟsWvߺ\v 쿙3y:ϝCOWߩ<l/ ="(-rn\]@TB;6L:]<IWt E פֿ^/ CW):{|5 BB;@Gb  %)S{áVV N*׆,Ӳҁ#ؐ-@Fr컺@P:D$eB4Sl@g@ S_p{S=J=%ŽMjcϡɮH/L]O1%mvp6*,V̷6D Azwugt$rȭwdQ,bhiq17 SYVUkzmN,y,veZ0l=(5I0gV=+JC) 5M4zSi{IL (*ٔ &w79D׭ɴ*󰍃Ep-ąbFL1Fŏ׍);^p”=)㎖]:l/(3j-2Pʆ̓!dXtivkHk*^e.q5x#ڈH=4K @Kh 5rpdsIfBp4M^txf6т0>&1q9{gh<[:5m&؇.49G,MwF]h&ԹW<9'j)t ￐%Ӳ/mm +~~b< =K*%*ҍlNB *A- ݴjM@h mWTȣ,gn'YVf#OlYF\p7fWJ/[D[褕my{^ZrOn5Cr=:2dl}II)l!\[g}ou sE Mu*hi?,O>C!,*'GMt%Ǣec~<ػ@%ۚI ZTyBxZ̚ 8 q` bTTi@D 2ř-is5NAJQI]IWr'flO\Oig꠿$5i J@(n`ԵfRzȝQ~\z!rfRFئQB 2}9;zN# BM~3œ-:0z&?!#֪[ VѰsMFK'\}Jl/PbwOTWbIa92,QFB[mL xjxZ[S6lBy =nM`_qrBgP>HnkGQW$Nvc> J>zracQ ek֓!Dw[UsP=I`)1s{@Ө=a=zĦG] 긨h+ԭW߳~:n#DޅR±xSS툨^UJG(LvǺo_a\,WMʮ|ǂoc %GH4Ɍ>ӕO6r8M$Aٓ76M#Mɔ̼ۺ5bLӶo U5$Sy9<{t?Ya\/ɀS: bZU:(\ޠ2su@d'9ýJg 0$C>q:%~ u{[JT uCzt nULY`؇mk))vlWtAMRoO 9LrjNMM(QHjث"ySpI*T!~zUmR*"}vE DQd1w/O01l060֯}F7lqh֢o!\Վpfj9ڎc$|IAlEd~EWc9,M 7zCtz4s]eػ}MLm͍'96tjR;LJ|j拣#06{[q$;&j12!NJCC(>dUo?,+]ciU*68$>8Y*B>s im_Ut:rbN eشk6ދX#Yq xY26_ڏ}|V03&MF;'-BU~Uʶdz\ыsJFh~e!L*5(NӖ})~3pD&qp[ ^z lmnKcKjۭ7ݮ6.$/kGaF0>TD9m #kT~Ko{0ERȇ_ '-m8U ۓǘs6L/pʅ"x(eK$Zxn3,ncD(pPNBuO Hd5y9v&KrTZ:Lqx,}ͱ߯5{VKGz-%hSԎ aF)XMqKPn 0[JP b7My8 KVoU6W ڦW>>&v`KޏM^H<D@#?n{6_u"gvZZEe>^:!$U'RH-y!7"N'鲱8|pV7ƍIApe__sT:CӵRL8NM.a)ZhR:>w:hk"zeVFL:ߙM}797qq.*'LDlGJrulOOLӭ*"=Բ*ՖA!8(n}NJ^-j@#zH(T _aFG|idJ},L?)64nQF{lm*b{;xnZ-52{k>SޘA?Z(Ru$Iƒs?37Y7+*v/2Xg'^,wNO(N$o‡HUtdcJGFQ k%nJoGİs&xxj3-'^UcDs ? I8v2t ~@ ?$ی<[ˆDCTY NO ܃%oAgwdq*zE !3A"2ǝ,`iW= " /lբռeP#w%41πl18U(DeMom Rbe0aZk!q5e[%@C= s 2%BoAV[j79|[: 
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1