The Thirteenth Tale

Name: The Thirteenth Tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
ISBN: 9780743564175

by Diane Setterfield, Jill Tanner (Read by), Bianca Amato

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Compact Disc
ISBN: 9780743564175

Available to Buy

Synopsis of The Thirteenth Tale

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth. . . . So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's beloved collection of stories, long famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale. The enigmatic Winter has always kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she summons a biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life: Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth remains an ever-present pain.

Disinterring the life she meant to bury for good, Vida mesmerizes Margaret with the power of her storytelling. Hers is a tale of gothic strangeness, featuring the Angelfield family -- including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, and the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline -- a ghost, a governess, and a devastating fire. Struck by a curious parallel between their stories, Margaret demands the truth from Vida, and...

The Washington Post - Margaux Wexberg Sanchez

Setterfield, a former professor of 20th-century French literature, is a deft stylist and talented technician. Both her love for literature and the depth of her learning enliven her debut novel.

About the Author, Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield became a major celebrity when the manuscript of her first novel, The Thirteenth Tale, inspired a vigorous bidding war among publishers in the U.S. and the U.K. The inaugural selection of the Barnes & Noble Recommends program, this fascinating tale of gothic intrigue heralded the arrival of an exciting new literary talent.