The Thirteenth Tale is a novel a novel set primarily in Yorkshire and when the novel begins we meet Margaret Lea. She works at an antiquarian bookstore owned by her father. Margaret has published a few articles in academic journals. And then one day she receives a letter from the famous and critically acclaimed author Vida Winter. Vida is elderly and not in the best of health and is ready to tell her life story to Margaret.
In the early years they used to try to catch me out. They would do research, come along with a little piece of truth concealed in their pocket, draw it out at an opportune moment and hope to startle me into revealing more. I had to be careful. Inch them in the direction I wanted them to take ... A delicate operation. Their eyes would start to shine, and their grasp on the little chip of truth would loosen, until it dropped from their hand and fell, disregarded, by the wayside. It never failed"
Vida ends her letter by telling Margaret "It is time. Come on Monday. I will send a car to meet you from the half past four arrival at Harrogate Station".
Many biographers and journalists over the decades have tried to get Vida to open up about her life story and she never has. And so why choose Margaret. Thectwo have never met and Margaret has never written a book or a biography. That is the mystery at the center of the Thirteenth Tale.
I won't go further because this is a gripping novel and it's best for readers to follow the story as it unfolds. A gothic ambiance pervades this book which is perfect for this time of year. Diane Setterfield is a very talented writer and I want to read more from her. By the final pages I had tears in my eyes.
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