The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Title: The Thirteenth Tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
Genre: Literary fiction, contemporary fiction, mystery
Publisher: Atria Books, 2006
Source: Borrowed from my sister-in-law
Read for: R.I.P. VI Challenge

Margaret Lea lurks around her father's used bookshop, immersed in dusty classics (the older, the better) and writing short works on obscure authors. When popular, contemporary author Vida Winter contacts her, requesting that she write her biography, Margaret is shocked for two reasons: first of all, she has never read anything by Winter (written too recently), and second of all, Vida Winter is known for inventing multiple stories about her past, none of them true. What Margaret doesn't realize is that when she accepts this request, she will not only learn the truth about Vida Winter's life, but the truth about her own as well.

I've had a surprisingly fantastic run of books lately. I guess I should read more creepy books, since most of what I am reading is for the R.I.P. VI challenge. The Thirteenth Tale was a sophisticated, enthralling read that left me eager to find out both Vida and Margaret's stories and in raptures over the beautifully constructed sentences.

Let's start with those sentences, shall we? Setterfield's writing style is just what I like. She is lavish with details, giving a full and beautiful picture of each scene, and yet sharp and witty, preventing the plot from being bogged down. The story is written from Margaret's perspective, and I loved her almost immediately - quirky, bookish, and decidedly charming. She seems to slam her finger on sensations I've grasped at but never fully been able to describe. For example.

All day I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes -- characters even -- caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you. 

Loved that.

The plot as well did not disappoint me, and was revealed in tantalizing little fragments that left me desperate for more time to read. Ms. Winter's tale is a bizarre and ghostly one, complete with broken taboos and spooky red-haired children. As Margaret teases and untangles this tale thread by thread, ghosts tend to make appearances, giving not only Margaret but me as well a jump and an accelerated heart rate. The "great reveal" at the end was a shock to me -- I had certainly not been able to unravel the mystery on my own. And while we are aware of Margaret's private sorrow for most of the story, the exact nature of that sorrow is also revealed more explicitly -- and meaningfully -- at the end of the story, leaving us with a satisfying and poignant ending.

This book also had the bonus factor of being centered around bookish and literary people (and therefore, people that I adored and identified with). One of the most priceless scenes occurs when Margaret falls ill, and the doctor asks her, in (pretty much) all seriousness, if she is a reader of the Brontes and Jane Austen, and if she does, in fact, read them over and over. When she nods, he prescribes her this: "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. Take ten pages a day, twice a day, until end of course." So if my heart hadn't been won already, it certainly would have been won by that prescription. I think we all need a doctor like that.

I think this contemporary novel has special appeal for classics readers -- readers who crave depth and beautiful language with their moving stories and lovable characters. This is the perfect read for a fall or winter day with a blanket, a cup of something hot, and several uninterrupted hours. You won't regret it.

4.5 stars

Warnings: Domestic abuse, brief sensuality and innuendo, disturbing themes