The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
We had lots to talk about last night at our third meeting of the Lit Ladies Book Club. Our book to discuss was The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. This book was a serious mind bender and a very fun read for me. I actually had to delay getting into my next book. I needed some time to digest and ponder all of my lingering questions after reading The Thirteenth Tale.
The story finds a young, lonely biographer, Margaret Lea, receiving a most interesting letter. She has been invited to write the biography of the mysterious, and famous author, Vida Winter. And, boy does Winter’s story turn out to be a doozy. So outrageous. Yet I was sucked right in and couldn’t wait to figure out the next puzzle. Vida sets the stage early that this will be a bumpy ride with very few clues, “From tomorrow, I will tell you my story, beginning at the beginning, continuing with the middle, and with the end at the end. Everything in its proper place. No cheating. No looking ahead. No questions. No sneaky glances at the last page.” Love it.
A bonus to the novel is that both Margaret and Vida are avid readers, and I subsequently made a list of classics that I just have to read now after hearing them referenced so often. Everything from Jane Eyre to Sherlock Holmes.
The Lit Ladies were a bit mixed on the book. A few felt it hard to get going (one only got to page 62!). A few felt it was too dark and twisted after just having finished the dark and twisted The Glass Castle. So, majority ruled that the next book will be just for fun 🙂 Hence, The Scarlet Letter got dumped. We’re reading In Search of My Natural Hair Color, by Diane Beil. So, I’ll be off reading other things this month since I’ve already read and reviewed that one.
