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Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale Hardcover – 12 September 2006

by Diane Setterfield (Author)

3,197 ratings

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When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

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Product details

Publisher : Atria Books (12 September 2006)
Language : English
Hardcover : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 0743298020
ISBN-13 : 978-0743298025
Dimensions : 15.24 x 2.79 x 22.86 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 719,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,333 in Women's Fiction About Friendship
- 3,451 in Historical British & Irish Literature
- 82,529 in Historical Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3,197 ratings

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5 star		66%
4 star		21%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Stevie Smith

Well crafted but not my style

Reviewed in Australia on 8 August 2020

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I did not find this book very interesting. It was well crafted but the storyline was lacking for me. Also I had worked out who the characters were well before they were revealed.

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pimg

A tale of mystery

Reviewed in Australia on 6 October 2020

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An intriguing well structured tale.

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Amazon Customer

The Thiteenth Tale

Reviewed in Australia on 20 August 2016

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This is unique book, not only in the way it is written (which is beautifully) but a fascinating and different plot. I have not enjoyed a book like this for a very long time. Superb!

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Jules Blundell

twists and turns that keep it alive

Reviewed in Australia on 8 December 2014

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Loved every moment of this book as you live inside the minds of the characters and desperately want to call out to help them

One person found this helpful

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Poppy Stoker

A MUST READ

Reviewed in Australia on 26 March 2015

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This, perhaps, gothic tale, is a must read. It had me gripped from the start and didn't let me go until the end.

One person found this helpful

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Three Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 4 November 2015

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Engrossing but predictable ending.

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JAE

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 30 December 2014

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Interesting mystery story with a lovely historical feel. Very well written.

One person found this helpful

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WhatCathyReadNext

Atmospheric historical mystery with a Gothic feel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2018

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I was part way through The Thirteenth Tale when I was lucky enough to hear Diane Setterfield speak at the 2018 Henley Literary Festival about her approach to writing and, in particular, about her forthcoming book, Once Upon A River.

I was struck by Diane’s thoughts on storytelling as an important theme in her books. Admitting she’d always had an interest – and not just a professional interest – in storytelling, Diane observed that we all organise information, gossip, and so on into stories about ourselves. Diane described humans as intrinsically ‘storytelling animals’. To quote from The Thirteenth Tale, “Everybody has a story.”

The book epitomises that emphasis on storytelling because, not only is its main character, Vida Winter, an author but she is a notably reclusive one who has carefully guarded the true facts of her life, spreading misinformation in its place. Furthermore, the plot centres on the mystery of a ‘missing’ thirteenth tale from her most famous collection of stories. What could be more enticing than the prospect of tracking down and reading a missing story?

Having heard Diane’s thoughts made me return to the book with renewed interest and with an increased awareness of the way in which storytelling permeates the book. Many of the characters are in search of or trying to make sense of the story of their life; others are facing up to the need to finally reveal it. In some cases, uncovering the true nature of their story does not bring them the clarity or satisfaction they hoped for. As Aurelius Love observes, “Perhaps it’s better not to have a story at all, rather than have one that keep changing. I have spent my whole life chasing after my story, and never quite catching it.”

There is also a sense in the book of the story of Vida’s life having an existence of its own; that it is fighting to make itself heard. At one point she comments: “Silence is not a natural environment for stories. They need words. Without them they grow pale, sicken and die.”

I found The Thirteenth Tale an engrossing read; full of atmosphere and with a series of intriguing mysteries at its heart helped by some fine writing. ‘From the day I was born grief was always present. It settled like dust upon the household. It covered everything; it invaded us with every breath we took. It shrouded us in our own separate mysteries.’ The settings have a real sense of the Gothic. I’m now excited to start reading Once Upon A River very shortly.

43 people found this helpful

The booktrail

Gothic tale set in Yorkshire

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2019

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There’s lots to love about this book:

Set in a gothic house
Huge gardens with mysterious paths
Rural
An elderly author lives there as recluse
A biographer is invited to come and interview her about books…
The house has secrets in its walls…

This is one gripping and very visual novel. I’ve seen the adaptation on the TV but the book is so much more immersive and gothic. I would even say the mystery, sense of foreboding and gothic overtones consumed me whilst reading and I felt chills and thrills I’ve never felt before.
At its heart is a family mystery, one that weaves and wanders its way through your heart and the pages until its flourishing and wonderful reveals. It’s a book about the love of books, the wonder of reading and stories across time so any bibliophile out there is going to drink it in.
Vida Winters, the author in the story writes a letter (a handwritten letter!)to a biographer Margaret Lea as she finally wants to tell the truth. The truth about the house, family, stories and secrets within.
Margaret is intrigued about one book the author has written called
Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation,but this only contains twelve stories... where is the thirteenth tale? (Cue chills on the back of my neck)

I don’t know why I haven’t reviewed it until now. Maybe I felt the time was right to revisit as I’ve just read it for the Nth time. This house, these characters are where I like to go and visit from time to time when I feel I need time alone.
Especially when there are lines like this:

“Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books. It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled.”

23 people found this helpful

Rae Else

A gem of a book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2017

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A gem of a book. Loved it…a story that echoes other stories, reminding you of the books you love and making you want to visit them once again.

Descent

This was a wonderful bookish book. The MC, Margaret has been raised in a bookshop and spends her day working and reading there, having become something of an “amateur” biographer as she terms it. Books have been her school, her university, her life. Like I say it was just ooooh so bookish.

“…you leave the previous book with ideas and themes - characters even - caught in the fibres of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you.”
Depth

The storyline follows the biographer’s trip to interview Vida Winters, a prolific, famous and secretive author. The author has never given a truthful account of her life…until now. Margaret journeys to her house in Yorkshire, and you cannot help think (as the MC does) of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Through Miss Winter’s story we discover her tale (and there is a house) Angelfield House involved in the tale. But we are taken down the twists and turns of history, of literature, history echoing story or story echoing history, hungering to discover Miss Winter’s true tale, which, in turn, shares painful similarities with Margaret’s own.

Ascent

I devoured this in two sittings, and I didn’t want to come out of it. It felt like a homage to other wonderful books as well. Just after reading it, I delved into Wuthering Heights again and I’m going to see Jane Eyre shortly at the theatre. So all in all, this is a book that you can luxuriate in and after leaving gets you in the mood to jump into lots of other stories that have inspired it. Also bought a copy of Rebecca recently on holiday, which has a lot to do with the ideas from this book still percolating in my head!

22 people found this helpful

LHG

Don't

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2018

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Well written - I found the characters enthralling. However, another book which has only the most basic grasp of human psychology. Children are not born "bad" or broken - they are made so. The book hinges around the idea of a dysfunctional family which is so deeply damaged as to be unbelievable. Think the final episode of Sherlock where Moriarty's sister is some kind of wunderkind evil genius at the age of 5. Doesn't happen.

It's a shame as there were interesting ideas here, but the plot just doesn't work,and the characters don't make sense. There's more psychological realism in Game of Thrones (yes, really). The twist at the end was also really annoying. Avoid.

11 people found this helpful

Siltone

Storytelling at its very best!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2020

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I have to say that this contemporary gothic tale had me tightly within its grasp for the three days it took to read it. Some would say that it's a novel that is specifically aimed at readers whose tastes include classics like: Jane Eyre, The Woman in White, Wuthering Heights, and Turn of the Screw. I would agree that this novel does share some of the themes covered in those works. The Thirteenth Tale is a tantalising story. It's one of those novels that drew me in after reading the very first page. And the writing itself is exquisite. There are so many quotable passages, here are a few (strangely and coincidentally taken from pages 9, 29 & 129):

'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.'

'Opening the book, I inhaled. The smell of old books, so sharp, so dry you can taste it. The prologue. Just a few words. But my eyes, brushing the first line, were snared.'

And lastly, when the enigmatic author, Vida Winter describes her life-time's experience of writing fiction:

'For nearly sixty years I have eavesdropped with impunity on the lives of people who do not exist. I have peeped shamelessly into hearts and bathroom closets. I have leant over shoulders to follow the movements of quills as they write love letters, wills and confessions. I have watched as lovers love, murderers murder and children play their make believe. Prisons and brothels have opened their doors to me; galleons and camel trains have transported me across sea and sand; centuries and continents have fallen away at my bidding. I have spied upon the misdeeds of the mighty and witnessed the nobility of the meek. I have bent so low over sleepers in their beds that they might have felt my breath on their faces. I have seen their dreams.'

I mean like wow! Talk about being seduced by an author's words. This is storytelling at its very best. Not surprisingly, The Thirteenth Tale is a novel I can highly recommend.

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