February 27, 2010
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a great read for a rainy (or snowy or cold or just plain don't-wanna-get-out-of-bed) day. It is a book for book lovers everywhere, and will satisfy all lovers of ghost stories, gothic mysteries, and tales of love and madness. It is creepy in the very best of ways, a fabulous mix of elements from Jane Eyre to The Woman in White, with bits from Lady Audley's Secret and Northanger Abbey thrown in. And yet The Thirteenth Tale never feels like a pasted-together confabulation of nineteenth century tropes and measures; it is fresh and original and completely engaging. The book is a wonderful story-telling experience. It is haunting, fun, mysterious, romantic, gothic, and utterly implausible. Never mind the implausibility of the elements, the story winds itself around you and becomes real in the moment, delicious and surprising and satisfying.
I don't want to give anything away. All I can reveal about The Thirteenth Tale is that it will excite and please its readers, that twins are involved, and more than twins, that madness lurks in the hearts of all uncared-for children, and that justice finds a way, no matter how dark and twisted its passage towards the light of truth may be. No more can I let slip from my pen; I must allow you, dear readers, to feel the chills and thrills of discovery. As stated in the book, "What you need are the plump comforts of a story" and that is exactly what you get in The Thirteenth Tale.
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