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A review by meeranair_54
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
4.0
Margaret Lea works at her father’s antiquarian bookshop. When she receives a letter from famous author Vida Winters, inviting her to write the author’s biography, Margaret is drawn by the mystery of it all.
In unravelling the author’s story, Margaret comes face to face with a truth that has been lurking in her periphery all her life.
Diana Setterfield’s writing is easily the selling point of this novel. Atmospheric, character-driven, and full of intrigue.
She teases out her character’s inclinations, secrets, and innate nature with the ease of unwinding thread from a spool. At first glance, there isn’t a lot of depth to Margaret’s backstory. But once she finds a hidden box in her parent’s room, you begin to realise why she finds Vida’s story appealing.
It’s a medium-paced novel. There’s ample plot development at any given stage so I was thoroughly engrossed while reading The Thirteenth Tale.
I loved the narrative structure, with chapter sections alternating between Margaret writing Vida’s story and conducting her own research about what happened at Angelfield house decades ago.
While I expected the presence of the Angelfield house to be chilling, much like... Read the rest of the review on my blog.
In unravelling the author’s story, Margaret comes face to face with a truth that has been lurking in her periphery all her life.
Diana Setterfield’s writing is easily the selling point of this novel. Atmospheric, character-driven, and full of intrigue.
She teases out her character’s inclinations, secrets, and innate nature with the ease of unwinding thread from a spool. At first glance, there isn’t a lot of depth to Margaret’s backstory. But once she finds a hidden box in her parent’s room, you begin to realise why she finds Vida’s story appealing.
It’s a medium-paced novel. There’s ample plot development at any given stage so I was thoroughly engrossed while reading The Thirteenth Tale.
I loved the narrative structure, with chapter sections alternating between Margaret writing Vida’s story and conducting her own research about what happened at Angelfield house decades ago.
While I expected the presence of the Angelfield house to be chilling, much like... Read the rest of the review on my blog.