The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
Book Review: Good mystery!
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this well-written book almost as much as those mentioned by Diane Setterfield: Jane Eyre etc. The plot is intriguing and kept me turning the pages until the very end. Sibling rivalry and "twinship" were beguilingly portrayed--although there was a touch of incest, both heterosexual and homo. Very good beginning, middle and end--as Vida Winter herself would have espoused. Book Review: Brilliantly gothic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed its Gothic feel. Ms Setterfield has written a beautifully evocative story and I could not put it down. Wonderfully written and enjoyable.Book Review: Unputdownable magic
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this amazing book, ill in bed over Christmas and despite a thumping headache, finished it within two days, only to immediately re-read. (Something I never do!) I won't rehash the plot, its been covered by lots of other reviewers. Obviously, to enjoy this book you have to have a taste for the classic gothic novel and a deep affection for the Brontes, which has escaped at least one or two previous reviewers. (Why would you read a genre you obviously dislike?) D. Setterfield's writing skill and style is impressive. Her first words immediately transform the reader into her timeless imagined world and the plot itself is deftly and subtlety handled. And best of all, without giving too much away, almost nothing is as it seems. The haunting sense of mystery spurs you to read on with an equal mix of shivering anticipation and apprehension. This book satisfies all the senses, from the feel of the luscious dust jacket, to the seductive taste of hot cocoa on a cold winter's morning. Even a sharpened pencil takes on a seductive note. My only criticism is that the Thirteenth Tale leaves a lingering yearning for another story of this calibre.Book Review: There's no accounting for taste...
Summary: 1 Stars
From the other reviews, it's clear that a lot of people loved this book. I'm one of those who did not - I found it overwritten, portentous nonsense. I would give it zero stars if that were an option.
Clearly this book aims to join the ranks of Victorian Gothic, written as it is in neo-Victorian prose, but we never know what era the story is actually set in. Nevertheless, the overblown prose and dialogue place the story in a vaguely Victorian neverland that made the odd anachronisms from contemporary life extremely irritating - just what time was the story set in? (normally a necessity for the reader to know).
But most damning were the universally unempathetic characters. I couldn't have cared less about Ms. Margaret Lea, which was a shame. If a reader can be made to care about a homicidal Don Corleone then it should be possible to create empathy for a character as blameless and vulnerable as Margaret Lea, but I didn't care a hoot what happened to her, or the cartoonish Ms. Winter, or indeed for her monstrosly silly tale. In my view the most important job a novelist has is to make the reader care about the characters and what happens to them. I found these characters unsympathetic and excruciatingly dull and their 'secrets' supremely uninteresting. For my inability to empathise with these characters, this novel failed completely for me.
For those who love complex, anachronistic prose, and superficial characters in implausible stories (would no one who knew Ms. Winter as a young person ever have come forward to contradict her silly habit of manufacturing her own, multiple, life history?, and Ms. Lea and her mother clearly needed a course of St. John's Wort) this book should be a treat. For anyone else, never forget: life is too short to waste.
PS: For North American reviewers: a bookshop 'near Cambridge' does not mean the bookshop is in London...
Book Review: Loved the narrative style of writing
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this book and was a little put off by the more negative reviews, but really glad I got it. It was something a little different to the usual fiction that's out there. Loved the ending and thought it all tied in beautifully. One of those times where you wish you hadn't finished the book, and want to read it again. I went straight to the bookshop and bought a copy for my best friend's birthday. Just hope she likes it too ... :^)