Friday, April 25, 2008

The Thirteenth Tale

I've had Diane Setterfield's novel on my wishlist for months and on my TBR stack since I went to Paris in March. Now that I've finished it, I don't know why on earth I put off reading it for so long! It's easily the best book I've read in quite some time, one of those stories that I had trouble putting down. I would read it whenever and wherever I could, even if I only had time for a paragraph at a time.

The Thirteenth Tale is the story of eccentric author Vida Winter and the story of her biographer Margaret. Ms. Winter chooses Margaret to write her story - one which she'd never before revealed to her beloved public. The story turns out to be full of secrets, of mystery, of family and of loss. The story is so well-constructed that it's hard to believe that this is Diane Setterfield's debut novel.

I don't really want to say more than that - just that I urge you to get to this one soon!

It gets an A and it contributes to the Numbers Challenge, the 888 Challenge, the Title Master Reading Challenge and even the Chunkster Challenge!

Also reviewed by:
Kris at Not Enough Books
Zetor at Mog's Book Blog

6 comments:

Lezlie said...

I've been wondering about this one. Looks like I may have to add it to the list. . .

Lezlie

joanna said...

Hi Lezlie - yes I think you may have to! :-)

Paula Weston said...

Likewise, I picked this one up in a book shop months ago (having read no reviews) and thought it sounded interesting.

Based on your review, I'll put it on my list.

So, thanks for the tip!

joanna said...

Hope you enjoy it, Paula!

Unknown said...

I really liked this book, as well. It was unique enough that I found it intriguing and written well enough that I found it suspenseful and entertaining. Glad you enjoyed it, too!

Unknown said...

I read this one when it first came out, I really liked it. Here's a link to my review:
http://notenoughbooks.blogspot.com/2006/09/thirteenth-tale-by-diane-setterfield.html