The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield
Published: 2006
Genre: Gothic Fiction
Rating: 4

Summary
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise — she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels.

As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story.

Review
This mildly creepy tale is well-written and fascinating. The author carefully unfolds the story in a way that is unpredictable and compelling. The characters are unique and well defined. A true Gothic tale.