Reviews - The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

4.43k reviews for:

Revisited November 2021
I almost never re-read #books, but this week I revisited a novel I read, loved, and enthusiastically recommended for many years. It holds up! And I had misrembered some key points, so that made the experience even better. Perfect #audio performance (Lynn Redgrave!)

January 2008
By far, one of the best books I've read in recent years. Densely written...no brain candy here! I was tempted to skip over some of the descriptive passages (she's very Bronte that way) but I fought the urge and ended up being all the more drawn into the story. I'm always in such a hurry to finish things, this book forced me to slow down and THINK and rewarded me with terrific writing and a really good story. I can't wait to seek out more of Setterfield's books.

sarahreads1987's review against another edition

4.0

This is a wonderful book about owning ones story. My only gripe is that it could be a bit wordy and there were too many endings.

readingwithkelsey's review against another edition

3.0

This is 5 star writing with a 3 star plot. I think the overall mystery of the book just was not totally engaging for me. Despite it being about a writer writing about another writer and this later writer having the most scandalous family history, I was bored? I think the beginning portion was able to pull me in and I definitely felt slightly more engaged than I did by the end - I just don't feel like it made a lot of sense and made the ending feel rushed and lacklustre. Like I said, Setterfield's writing is beautiful and very atmospheric, I definitely felt like I was in a Victorian ghost story but I really feel like that's most of the appeal for this book.

rynaereading's review against another edition

4.0

This is perfect for anyone with an interest in Victorian sensation/gothic. The story is really captivating. My only complaint was a lack of attention given to Margaret; then again the author stayed true to form in that, also, especially when you compare it to the narrative form of Wuthering Heights. All in all, a great book that I definitely recommend!

lisathekidwrangler's review against another edition

4.0

Read as part of my '12 Books recommended by 12 Friends in 2023' challenge. I really enjoyed this foray in modern Gothic fiction. The characters continually refer back to the Bronte sisters, James and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, they are avid readers and writers and live the types of lives they read about and reside in similar settings. Definitely a Goodread!

mgmat's review against another edition

I was in the mood for something lush and gothic, and the first 75 pages gave me that (even though Vida and her house were far more interesting than Margaret, who had the personality of dry toast) and then... we did a story-within-a-story. I put the book down, and, then, days later, found myself entirely uninterested in picking it up again. Without context or connection, reading blocks of about strange, new people, especially in flashback form, wasn't intriguing in the slightest.

ashlain's review against another edition

5.0

Well written, it’s a tale of two stories. There is a lot of background information told throughout the entire book, building up to the climax which was one surprise after another after another. The author did a great job concealing these surprises with the barest hints of foreshadowing; so bare that the reader doesn’t take them as foreshadowing, just another layer of the story.