The Thirteenth Tale (novel)

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Title The Thirteenth Tale
Cover to the first edition
First edition cover
Author Diane Setterfield
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Gothic, Suspense novel
Publisher Atria
Released September 12, 2006
Media type Print (Hardback) & Audio book
Pages 416 pp
ISBN ISBN 0743298020

The Thirteenth Tale is a gothic suspense novel that was published in 2006. It was Diane Setterfield's debut novel.

Contents

[edit] Plot introduction

Vida Winter, allegedly the most famous novelist in England, and quite possibly the world, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth. With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter hires an unknown, bookish biographer, Margaret Lea, to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise. Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Ms. Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with hers.

[edit] Characters

  • Margaret Lea: the daughter of a bookstore owner who is asked to write Vida Winter's biography
  • Vida Winter (aka Shadow): the famous writer who has eluded reporters as to her true past, and is now ready to reveal its secrets to Margaret
  • Isabelle Angelfield: the younger of George Angelfield's two children, she gives birth to twins, Emmeline and Adeline
  • Charlie Angelfield: Isabelle's older brother who has a dark passion and love for his sister
  • Emmeline March: the less violent of Isabelle's girls
  • Adeline March: the more violent of the twins

[edit] Reception

The novel became a New York Times #1 bestseller. [1]

[edit] External links