The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield
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Book Reviews of The Thirteenth Tale
Book Review: Very Well Crafted Prose, but a Rather Slow Plot with Sketchy Characters
Summary: 3 Stars
THE THIRTEENTH TALE has been heavily hyped, and is probably the biggest debut of the year in terms of sales. I thought it was extremely well written, but I was never fully drawn into it.
This novel is written in a rather old-fashioned style, like the novels of the nineteenth century. In fact, it is unclear what time period this novel takes place in. There are no computers, cell phones, or modern conveniences. We do not even know the age of the narrator, who seems to completely lack any sort of personal life.
This novel is leisurely paced. It begins strongly, but it really sags in the middle. I found the storyline to be pretty slow going in spots. There were many times when I put it down. THE THIRTEENTH TALE does have a major twist near the end, which you are either going to love or hate. Either way, the twist changes the entire nature of what you've read before. In the end, this is a rather devious book in many ways. The reader may resent being tricked.
My major problem with this book is with the characters. They are never fully fleshed out. Nearly all of them are eccentric in one form or another. The narrator is a book lover, which I can relate to, but she is a rather lifeless character who is difficult to like. Many of the supporting characters are somewhat two-dimensional and annoying. I failed to identify with any of them.
As a result, I found it difficult to root for anybody in this novel. There are some tragic things that happen in this book, but I never felt much empathy for the victims. This is a clever book in many ways, but I was never emotionally engaged with the story.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this book on an intellectual level, because of the high quality of the prose. Setterfield's writing is definitely first-rate. I would not recommend this book, however, to people who put a high premium on fast-placed plots and vivid, likable characters.
Book Review: Another Surprise
Summary: 5 Stars
Some of my least favorite books recently have been debut novels, with some notable exceptions. I was also hesitant to read the Thirteenth Tale because of the chain-store hype it had been receiving. But I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of things.
The plot jogged along with only a few pit stops for gatorade. It was definitely an engaging gothic tale, or the remaking of one. Maybe it was more of a homage to the gothic novel, much like Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oats. I was immediately drawn in and found the characters to be three dimensional, if not a bit bizarre. I was willing to suspend my disbelief a couple of times, such as when Vida Winters emerges from such privation and neglect to become a paragon of the British literary world. I felt that there was an acceleration of the pace at the end, and while I wanted to figure out who did what to whom, some of it seemed a little strained, especially with one of the plot resolutions which I cannot give away. But this was not, for me, enough to diminish the overall strength of the novel.
Also, the writing was clean and disciplined, (unlike that of this reviewer) and helped the entire story to flow with ease. One thing that kept throwing me was the change of narrator with little or no warning. And since the latter sections of the book are mostly conducted in the first person, it can be a little confusing. I would also have liked a little genealogical diagram in the front (or back), like One Hundred Years of Solitude, Bellefleur, though I am not making a comparison, even though it sounds like one.
My other impression was that this was not a book that took itself too seriously. There was a slight tongue in cheek demeanor I found throughout, emphasized by the photo of the author who looks like the cat that ate the canary! Anyway, it was great fun to read and I enjoyed it immensely.
Book Review: Amazing debut mystery/gothic novel
Summary: 5 Stars
If you love mysteries or just like reading books about books, this debut novel is for you. I wish to say that even though I am an avid reader, it has been a while since I have read a novel in less than 24-hours simply because I could not put it down. "The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel" by Diane Setterfield is a gothic mystery about Vita Winter, a writer, and Margaret Lea, a biographer Ms. Winter's hires to write her story that she herself, Vita, cannot write. The tales that are told and the things that happen in the present keep you glued to the page.
The book, in general, is about Margaret Lea, an amateur biographer, lives with her parents over her father's bookshop. She is commissioned by Vida Winter, a bestselling reclusive author, to write Vida's biography. Vida's challenge is that she must tell "the truth" because Vida has not done so in the past with other biographers and journalists. Through Vida's storytelling, secrets are revealed.
Overall, this book is mesmerizing and craftily written. The characters are well developed and all have an essential role in the plot development. Setterfield's sense of imagery is outstanding. She pulls you into the story as an observer looking through a magnifying glass so you can see the moors, the ghost, the fire, etc., using excellent scenery descriptions. The ending brings everything to a close, and answers some nagging questions that most mystery writers sometimes forget that we, as readers, need. Don't let the slow beginning stop you from reading further; it gets better.
For a debut novel, Setterfield has done an outstanding job and has written a literary marvel. She touches upon themes of life/death, loneliness, love, betrayal, forgiveness, social morals, family, commitment to purpose and survival of the fittest in approximately 416 pages. I await her next mystery novel.
Book Review: Read The Bronte Sisters Or Daphne Du Maurier Instead
Summary: 2 Stars
I was eager to read this novel since I am a lover of gothic romances such as JANE EYRE and REBECCA, both novels to which THE THIRTEENTH TALE has been compared. Unfortunately this more contemporary book failed to engage me and I struggled to finish it.
Margaret, the heroine of THE THIRTEENTH TALE is a shy bookish type. She is "haunted" throughout her life by her identical twin. This twin rather melodramatically died so that she could live according to the plot. Margaret is emotionally estranged from her mother who has never recovered from the circumstances of her birth and this was one of several facets of the novel that did not seem credible to me. Anyway our part time writer and full time bookstore employee Margaret is suddenly chosen to be the biographer for a famous dying female novelist named Vida Winter. Vida has never told the truth about her own background which involves insanity, incest, a burned mansion, two decidedly unusual twins and a couple of secret illegitimate children. Vida tells her story so slowly that Margaret has to do some sleuthing on her own to unveil the many secrets most of which have all ready been way overused in similar novels.
One of the main elements that make most traditional gothic novels so appealing is the appearance of an exciting and somewhat dangerous love interest for the heroine such as Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester or the narrator of Rebecca's Maxim. Though a love interest for Margaret does appear near the end of the book he is not particularly interesting and the reader does not learn much about him and certainly not enough to make the heart pound faster. THE THIRTEENTH TALE reminded me a lot of the two novels Australian Kate Morton has recently published in the United States. Though Morton's books are far from perfect I prefer either of them to THE THIRTEENTH TALE.
Book Review: Wonderful gothic novel
Summary: 5 Stars
If you love Jane Eyre as much as I do, and as much as the author and main character of this book do, then you'll probably like The Thirteenth Tale. It is at once both an interesting story of its own and a love letter to books that book-lovers will see their own feelings reflected in.
It took me a little while to get to the point where I didn't want to put the book down. The first few chapters, while interesting and well written, came before the introduction of any real mystery that I wanted to find the answer to. At some point, however, I did find myself reluctant to stop reading, which is a feeling I wish every book invoked in me.
Frequently, I find I've discovered or understood things well before the characters in a story. Sometimes I don't mind this--sometimes that is clearly what the author intends--and sometimes I find it tedious. (But as much as I enjoy the infrequent occasions when I am surprised, what is by far worse than knowing everything already is when I'm utterly surprised at revelations because the author has not laid out the clues properly!) In The Thirteenth Tale, I usually figured things out only pages before the narrator did. Even when the conclusion we both reached was incorrect, this shows that Diane Setterfield laid her clues very well indeed. They were neither obvious nor unfathomable, they were simply elements that, when put together with other elements, produced a reasonable answer.
Some people might complain that the references to Jane Eyre, along with other much-beloved 19th century novels, are not subtle enough or, because of some quibble with the writing style or quality or characterization, are too presumptuous. The thought of these people makes me happy that instead of nitpicking or being disappointed, I was simply able to deeply enjoy this novel.