I loved this book!

The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield

Oh my goodness! This book has multiple stories going on all at the same time, but they are all related and easy to follow. It was hard to put the book down! The story stayed with me and had me thinking about it constantly. I stayed up late reading it thinking I could figure out where the story was headed and how all the different stories were going to somehow be brought together in the end. I was very surprised, and satisfied, with the ending. I do recommend this book, and plan to read it again (something I usually do NOT do since my wish list is so long). I read the hardcover version, which I picked up in a second-hand shop. The book jacket describes the book perfectly:

"'All children mythologize their birth'...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist. The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself--all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission. As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. "The Thirteenth Tale' is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life."

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