Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

I will confess. I am still trundling my way through the Carmilla follow up from the last post (spoiler alert: Uncle Silas) so I thought I would take a moment to review a book that I read last year, but re-read earlier this week. Its a novel of past reflections, of regrets and of duplicity, and it stayed with me long after I had finished reading.

The Thirteenth Tale tells the story of Margaret Lea, a young budding writer who works in her father’s antique bookshop. One day she receives a request from a mysterious woman, who requests that she write her autobiography for her. This mysterious pen-pal turns out to be a very famous, ice cold author by the name of Vida Winter. Slowly, as she reveals her story, more secrets come to light, and Margaret finds herself more and more involved in the twisted family.

Firstly, I would like to comment on the book’s atmosphere. It’s a reader and / or writers dream! Margaret lives and works in a bookshop that is both cosy and mysterious. From the moment I began the novel I felt right at home, safe and secure in the bookstores warm, sweet embrace. But this is a clever tactic on behalf of Setterfield, because it does not stay this way for long. As readers move to Angelfield House, they find a completely different atmosphere, one that is reminiscent of Bleak House.

Angelfield carries the story into the Gothic, and exceptionally so. The place seems riddled with secrets, luxurious yet deadly and is described in such a way as to never allow the reader to feel at ease whilst Margaret resides there.

The characterisation too, especially of Vida, is incredibly nuanced. Setterfield builds her up steadily, but most of what we know is through hearsay, and this demonstrates to readers how people’s opinions can wrongly shape a human being. In this way, Setterfield is an absolute wizard with words, knowing just how to choose the right one and when to deploy it.

The plot too, was fast paced and action packed even when it didn’t really feel like it. I was being carried through the story as if on a sea of outstretched arms, never truly realising how far I had come.

One small thing I must point out howver, is the lack of romance. Normally, Gothic novels had some kind of romantic strain running through them, and as this novel was compared quite empahtically to Jane Eyre, I was almost expecting one. There were hints, but nothing that really swept me up and into its arms as say Jane and Rochester does. But I will admit, it is a small slight!

Overall, I found this novel entrancing. Everything from the formulation of the plot to the words chosen is decadent and the reading experience likewise. For fans of Gothic, this is definitely something to add to a to-read shelf. I would rate it a solid 7/10.

Diane Setterfield is a British author. Her bestselling novel, The Thirteenth Tale (2006) was published in 38 countries worldwide and has sold more than three million copies. It was number one in the New York Times hardback fiction list for three weeks and is enjoyed as much for being ‘a love letter to reading’ as for its mystery and style. Her second novel, Bellman & Black (2013 is a genre-defying tale of rooks and Victorian retail. January 2019 sees the publication of her new title, Once Upon a River, which has been called 'bewitching' and 'enchanting'.

Born in Englefield, Berkshire in 1964, Diane spent most of her childhood in the nearby village of Theale. After schooldays at Theale Green, Diane studied French Literature at the University of Bristol. Her PhD was on autobiographical structures in André Gide’s early fiction. She taught English at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie and the Ecole nationale supérieure de Chimie, both in Mulhouse, France, and later lectured in French at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. She left academia in the late 1990s to pursue writing.

The Thirteenth Tale was acquired by Heyday Films and adapted for television by the award-winning playwright and scriptwriter, Christopher Hampton. Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Olivia Colman, it was filmed in 2013 in North Yorkshire for BBC2. The TV rights to Once Upon a River have even sold to Kudos (Broadchurch, Spooks, Grantchester).

Diane Setterfield has been published in over forty countries.

Diane lives in Oxford, in the UK. When not writing she reads widely, and when not actually reading she is usually talking or thinking about reading. She is, she says, ‘a reader first, a writer second.’