Collegiate Times

Stories of people?s lives are sometimes interesting, but sometimes quite dull. When reading any biography, I can?t help but wonder how much is truth and how much is embellished, after all, the people who wrote it are storytellers.

The unembellished truth is what Margaret Lea sets out to find in the book ?The Thirteenth Tale? by Diane Setterfield. Lea receives a letter from a famous and extremely popular author, Vida Winters, stating that she is ready to tell the truth about her life and would like Lea to write the story. This is difficult to believe because Winters has given several hundred different versions of her life story over the course of her life and says that she has ?a gripe ? with truth herself.?

When Lea agrees and travels to Winters? dark house, she begins to learn the dark secrets that lurk in Winter?s history and is surprised at how connected they are with her own dark past.

This is Setterfield?s debut novel, though I find it hard to believe. This book is so well crafted that you would think it came from the mind of a veteran storyteller. You are grabbed the minute you open the cover, and it is hard to put down.

At its core, this is a gothic novel that is reminiscent of du Maurier (?The Birds,? ?Rebecca?) that grabs you with its dark, detailed imagery and well-timed revealing of shocking secrets.

Honestly, I haven?t enjoyed reading a book this much in a long time. The story is fascinating; equally full of lurid secrets and heartfelt revelations and is told in a way that grabs you in. While reading it, I would find myself suddenly 50 pages later, yet I felt like no time had passed at all.

The story leaves you on edge, never knowing what will happen next and keeps you coming back for more and wanting even more when it?s over.

For anyone who is fond of reading, this book also explores the connections that a reader has with stories in an insightful, poetic and never corny way. It binds you to the book because you share the same emotions towards literature that Lea does.

One of my favorite sentiments has Lea describing how reading books and believing in the stories has changed as she got older. She says ?Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were much more banal and essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books.? Setterfield herself is obviously a lifelong reader, and anyone else who has been will instantly know exactly what she so eloquently expresses.

But what is most important in the novel is not these sentiments, it is the story of Winters. These are the best and most interesting parts of the book that are interspersed with the actions of Lea as she writes the story. You are left with suspense for both Winters? and Lea?s story to reveal itself as the narrative alternates between the two.

This is an expertly written novel that offers much promise for future Setterfield books. It is important to note that the book also has a very creative, fun, interactive website that really brings the book to life (www.thethirteenthtale.com ). While I checked this book out from the local library, I plan to go out and buy it because it is the type of book that I will remember for a long time and want to have a place for on my bookshelf to share with others.