Although I won’t be leading the discussion, I do provide refreshments. I’m hosting a book club meeting on this book next week. It was a fun journey, and that is why I read it: for fun. But because I read for the pure enjoyment factor, I struggle now to fault the book. I also tend to like my books to be explainable by natural means (rather than by ghosts). In some senses it was superficial, and the end wasn’t quite as satisfying as Mr Wilkie Collins’ novels are (although I obviously have a bias!). The Thirteenth Tale was not immune it was a flawed book. When I share thoughts on a book I’ve read, I normally spend a few sentences sharing the flaws in the book and explaining which things didn’t work for me. She wanted to create her own sensation novel, and I think she did a great job. It was fun to read Ms Setterfield’s creation, because it is obvious that she, like me, loves the classic books, those with “proper” endings. Take ten pages, twice a day, till end of course. In a vigorous scrawl, he had inked: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So much of Margaret’s experiences are seen through a lenses of a novel that when she faints, the doctor takes matters into his own hands. Mistaken identities, hidden people, ghosts, fires, walking on the moors in sleety rain. In some respects, the story was a retelling of some of these sensational novels of the eighteenth century. The reason is simple: I prefer proper endings… Endings like this are to be found more commonly in old novels than new ones, so I read old novels.
I could really relate to Margaret, who loves these books. I loved the book talk, and the way classic novels were seamlessly integrated in the story (see a full list here): Jane Eyre, The Turn of the Screw, Lady Audley’s Secret, The Woman in White. It was a perfect read for a windy, rainy fall evening.
They have much more in common than they realized, and it all goes back to the universal power of stories. Although the two women are very different and begin as strangers, as the novel progresses and their friendship grows, their stories come together. Amateur biographer Margret Lea is invited to write the story of Vita Winter, aging popular writer with more than fifty published works to her name. Part ghost story and part mystery, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (published 2006) captures the power of stories and books in a lonely life. I may receive compensation for any purchased items. Posts written from review copies are labeled. Note: I occasionally accept review copies from the publisher.
0 kommentar(er)
