Book Review: The Thirteenth Tale

By Rachel Campbell
Diane Setterfield’s novel, The Thirteenth Tale, is intensely compelling and completely original.
When book lover and biographer, Margaret Lea gets a mysterious letter from famed British author Vida Winter inviting her to write her biography, Margaret is skeptical. After all, The Herald has sent more than twenty different reporters to get the “real story” and every time the story has been different. But she is compelled to accept with the assurance that Vida Winter is haunted by the admonishment given by the most recent reporter sent from The Herald: “Tell the truth!”
Several days later, Margaret finds herself sequestered in the Yorkshire sanctuary Miss Winter has made for herself. Soon, feeble, ailing, dying Miss Winter has entrapped Margaret in the story of Adeline and Emmeline. It is a story about twins… it is a ghost story…
“All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you 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.”
_Vida Winter
With a story line that will keep you guessing until the very end, this book definitely is worth the read.