Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)7 hours

    The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

    Written by Diane Setterfield

    Narrated by Lynn Redgrave and Henshall

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Winner of the 2007 Audie Award for Literary Fiction and Finalist for Multi-Voiced Performance

    Instant #1 New York Times bestseller

    “Readers will feel the magnetic pull of this paean to words, books and the magical power of story.”—People

    “Eerie and fascinating.”—USA TODAY

    Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny.

    Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness—featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateSep 12, 2006
    ISBN9780743563833
    Author

    Diane Setterfield

    Diane Setterfield is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Tale, and a former academic, specializing in twentieth-century French literature, particularly the works of Andre Gide. She lives in Oxford, England.

    More audiobooks from Diane Setterfield

    Related to The Thirteenth Tale

    Related audiobooks

    Historical Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Thirteenth Tale

    4/5

    549 ratings477 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      In The Thirteenth Tale Diane Settlefield takes a nineteenth-century plotline and sets it the twentieth century. Elderly, reclusive author Vida Winter seeks out amateur biographer Margaret to write her life story before she (Vida) dies. Vida tells Margaret a convoluted story involving such gothic elements as an ancient, crumbling estate, loyal but barely competent servants, incest, mental illness, and most notably, a strange set of feral twins, Emmeline and Adeline. It is up to Margaret, a chronically lonely ?twinless twin?, to figure out Vida?s true identity and what really happened at the decrepit Angelfield mansion on one fateful night. Perhaps Vida could have just told her, but then there wouldn?t be a story.After a slow start, this novel grew on me. Vida and Margaret are both avid readers, and this book is very affirming regarding the importance of books and reading without being too gushy or sentimental about it. I recommend this book for all those who feel the same way.
    • 3/5
      I liked this novel well enough, but not as much as I expected. The Thirteenth Tale is clearly written for those who love books and stories they contain, the plot is centered around a recluse author and the tale of her childhood as told to Margaret Lea, a young woman with a story of her own. The style of this novel is reminiscent of the nineteenth-century novels oft referred to in the course of the story. While I share many of the characters' reading preferences, I failed to find this novel as engaging or engrossing as others I have read.
    • 4/5
      Reminded me (pleasantly) of Big Fish. Very enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book - it had that great Gothic sensibility to it, all dark and "oh woe is me" delicate heroine. My only complaint is that once the story was over, it dragged on with pages of "I bet you're wondering what happened to x minor character!". Actually, no, I wasn't it. The story is over, I'm done. But that's a small quibble, when the rest of the book was just delicious.
    • 5/5
      A fine gothic mystery, very much in the vein of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. This is a book that will surprise you and keep you guessing right up to the last page.
    • 3/5
      Twins, ghosts, mysterious family histories--what more could you ask for in a gothic novel? Setterfield has taken the classic elements of the old-fashioned tales and woven them into an atmospheric read that holds one's attention. Some weaknesses in development of plot are overcome by very nice writing in an intriguing reworking of some 19-century favorites.
    • 4/5
      One of the reviews refers to this as a book for book lovers. I concur. It's beautifully written, haunting, and engaging. I highly recommend to anyone who loves books.
    • 4/5
      A Gothic tale about a famous author engaging an unexpected autobiographer to tell the mysterious, and possibly true, story about her life and about death, loneliness, loss, and twins. An interesting premise of mysterious people in a mysterious house is a great start for a Gothic novel and Setterfield makes a lot, if not the most, of her idea. The style is just a little too meandering for my taste and I can't get myself to believe in the link between Vida and Margaret, or rather that Vida would have understood Margaret's whole history from her brochure (or perhaps that's the actual ghost part?). Still, the story kept me turning the pages and I did absolutely want to find out how all these people were actually connected in the end. The "thirteenth tale" part was a nice little twist as well. For a debut novel, it's a nice achievement and although it reminded me more of Flowers in the Attic than classic fiction, it did make me want to read Jane Eyre very soon.
    • 5/5
      What a delightful surprise! Not because I didn't expect much from this book, but - on the contrary - I had very high expectations and the book met them. I bought this novel years ago, and I didn't know anything about the actual plot; I was sold by the positive reports circulating around my bookstore, and the pitch that it was mysterious, great for book lovers, and shared a spirit with Jane Eyre. These recommendations were too enticing, and I bought it without even reading the synopsis, then put it on the shelf back home, and it was lost, despite my interest. Over the holiday season, I spotted this book on another person's shelf (!), dug my own copy up out of obscurity, and had a delightful Christmas reading.Since I never looked further than second hand reports, an air of mystery that surrounded the book, and that was appropriate, considering the plot of the novel. Margaret Lea is a reserved girl who leads a quiet life working in her father's book store. He makes most of their money on occasional big sales of special collector books, so they spend most of their time tidying and organizing books, cleaning, and reading and reading and reading. Margaret also has a hobby of writing biographies. Her shop has an abundance of old diaries and letters, mostly by people that are unknown and forgotten in history. She likes to read their stories and write a memoir that is a eulogy for a life covered in the dust of the past. Most of these are unpublished, with just a few making appearances in academic circles. Therefore she is greatly surprised when Vida Winters, England's most famous living writer, contacts her with a request for Margaret to write her life story. Though lit with fame, Vida Winters has maintained a reserve as powerful as Margaret's. Her history is shrouded in mystery, and though many interviewers have sought to pierce the veil, she has evaded them all with clever stories. Now, though, Miss Winters is dying and she wants to tell the truth. Margaret agrees to meet her, but it is only when Miss Winters mentions twins that Margaret decides to take on the job of recording her story. Tucked away in Vida Winter's remote home, Miss Lea and Miss Winters fall into a twilight where the story of the past is more real than the present, and the startling truth of Miss Winter's origins is finally revealed. Or so she claims. Margaret knows that Miss Winters is a storyteller to the bone, and conducts her own brief investigations on the side to ensure that she isn't receiving a new tale, meeting other people with their own stories to tell. As soon as I started reading, I had a feeling I would love this story. Certain writers have a way with language so powerful that I would read whatever they wrote, from a novel to a newspaper ad. Setterfield demonstrates this talent. Her prose is fluid, haunting, and intimate. Her figurative language is not as shocking or creative as some writers I have read, but nonetheless evocative. Metaphors are perfectly suited to the narrative stream, images are crisp, original, attractive. I was attracted to Margaret immediately, partly because she was somewhat similar to me, and partly because the characterization is strong in this book. Whether they are people in the present, or ghosts peopling Miss Winter's life story, all of the characters are complex, rounded individuals. A passage in the book describes how Miss Winter's views her written characters, that they are ghosts that evince an almost physical reality in her world until she writes them down and thereby exorcises them, and she describes a painting of Charles Dickens where he is sleeping and his characters are running amok around him. I certainly felt that the characters in this novel had a similar strength of presence that extended past the page.The idea that stories have a physical presence is a theme in this book about books. Truly, lovers of books should read this story. It extols and celebrates - even venerates - literature and writing and reading. The main characters are serious readers, and they see stories everywhere. Miss Winters tells her story, which occupies the majority of the novel space, but within that story are scientists writing articles and ghosts reading books, and a library that is a focal point of the house and the action. The people Margaret meets have their own stories to tell. Aurelius tells her his life story, which in turn becomes his mother Mrs. Love's story. Margaret's parents have a story which they hid from her, and Margaret has a story she is unwilling to share. Some of these are oral, some are written, and frequently they are a blend of these two ancient traditions of storytelling. Books themselves are everywhere. Libraries and bookstores, and many references to classics, from Dickens to Doyle, with a heavy emphasis on Jane Eyre, which has thematic implications as well. In addition, multiple letters, a diary, and excerpts from Miss Winter's novels are included. The power of the written word, and the power of the spoken word, are exhibited with dizzying power to transform, to destroy, to heal, and to redeem. As a person who has always been mystified by language and the power of words, reading this story was just a delight. The narrative skillfully integrates the different stories and written excerpts in a plot that is suspenseful and kept me wanting to read more. I was equally interested in the past account and the present developments. The clever deconstruction of the typical format of a story - beginning, middle, and end - was fun. Also, there was a lot of depth; sometimes, fun stories are just quick reads with good characters and setting and plot, and their main appeal is in the entertainment value. This story had more under its surface than that. I have only focused on one major theme of the novel, that of stories and story telling, but there are many other layers to this tale. I finished the novel with the happy satisfaction of completing a book that was enjoyable while being artistically sound, a story that drew me in on multiple levels with an intricacy worthy of literature.
    • 4/5
      Everyone has a story. So says Vida Winter, one of the main characters of Diane Setterfield?s book the Thirteenth Tale. Vida is a bestselling author, known for evading would-be biographers by inventing wild stories about her life. Now at the end of her life, Ms. Winter has beckoned Margaret Lea to her house to hear her story. Trouble is after so many years of making up stories, will Ms. Winter finally be able to tell the truth? Or will Margaret be able to discover the truth in Ms. Winter?s story? Margaret, of course, has her own story to tell, one that is curiously intertwined with Ms. Winter?s. Both women are twins and both women are hiding a secret.The storytelling is absorbing and superb, rich in details and literary references. This book is recommended for anyone who loves books about family relationships, family secrets, books and to anyone who just loves a good yarn.
    • 5/5
      This is the perfect-stay-at-home-on-a-rainy-day-read. A beautifully written gothic tale set in modern day England is mesmerizing until the very end.The story starts off with Margaret who with her father is the owner of a antique bookstore. She is a novice biographer when she's asked by the famous and reclusive author Vida Winter to write her biography. Ms. Winter never gives interviews so Margaret is both excited and intrigued when she is chosen for this endeavor. Once Margaret meets the solitary author she realizes that although she was invited, her task is nothing but easy. Ms. Winter is a reluctant subject giving up very little and guarding her secrets. It is Margaret's job to dig deeper to discover the truth of this mysterious woman's past.One of my favorite books I've read this year. If you loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier then I would recommend this book as it is written in a very similar style. Creepy enough for chills but not over the top. A thoroughly satisfying read.How I acquired this book: Purchased at Book Passage, San FranciscoShelf life: Approximately a year and a half
    • 5/5
      This was a fantastic book that was a throw back to the writing style of the 19th century. I have read that the author's favorite writer was Charles Dickens, and her writing style certainly mirrors his. This was another book that talks at length about the love of words and reading and I can't seem to get enough of that type of work. This story keeps you guessing and was a page turner that I had a hard time putting down. I would recommend this book to anyone and feel that all will enjoy it.
    • 4/5
      7 audio discsSecrets!A brilliant reclusive storyteller and a hand picked fledgling biographer.The cry reinterated....tell me the truth!This was a wonderful mystery that kept me captivated by the continual character evolutions and seamless twists and turns to the plot.Just when I thought I understood...something new emerged.]All characters had some significance in the plot and were developed in an engaging manner in the novel.Vida Winter was particularly vivid to me.A gothic like setting including a manor, a ghost, a governess..........A great reading journey for methe above is my 2010 review.In 2014, it is still an excellent read.Read by Lynn Redgrave and Ruthie Henshal 4/5 ?
    • 4/5
      Superb writing! Fascinating story! Wonderful book, and I can't believe I almost lost it to a rival library (an unwitting "loan") and had to re-buy it. Well, no matter, it's safe home again. I loved this book.
    • 5/5
      It seems as though I've read more books about people who love books in the last year than ever before. It all started with The Yellow-Lighted Book Shop, segued into Cliff Janeway's The Bookman series, stopped off in fantasy land with Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, and most recently took a turn on the bestseller list with The Thirteenth Tale.The Thirteenth Tale is the famously omitted story from author Vida Winter's collection of short stories. Margaret Lea, book lover and amateur biographer, is invited to hear the true life story of England's most popular author. When Margaret arrives at Winter's home, she finds a dying woman with one foot firmly in the past. As Vida's story unfolds, Margaret finds herself drawn into the darkly strange world of the the Angelfield twins. She is unsure of how much is true and how much is flotsam from Vida's compost pile of story fragments. As Vida tells her story, so does Margaret, who harbors her own untold story.Setterfields characters are magnificent. The otherwordly existence of the Angelfield family is at once repulsive and fascinating. There are many strands to this story that wave all over the place throughout, but which are all caught up in a neat knot at the end. I was engrossed in this story from the start and -- gasp of surprise -- didn't even peek at the end. Good thing too, because I sure didn't see the truth in Vida's story until the very end. All in all, this was one of the most satisfying books I've read in awhile.
    • 4/5
      An interesting study about two generations of women - one, the young girl selected by an older well-known author to tell her life story after a lifetime of secrecy, and two - the secretive author and the gradual unfolding of her earlier life as her own health begins to fail.
    • 5/5
      A modern gothic novel in the tradition of Jane Eyre.I really loved this novel. It is smart, sensitive, engaging, and suspenseful.Margaret Lea is hired to wite the biography of best-selling author Vida Winter. Winter has made a habit of telling widely different tales of her life to interviewers, but now she is dying, and wants to tell her true story. She picks Margaret Lea to tell it to, a reclusive bookstore clerk who is herself emotionally damaged.The tale takes many emotional twists and is full of revelations about the past. Winter was a twin - or was she? Her twin is dead - or is she?I was disappointed when I finished the book to find that Setterfield has not yet written another novel. More! I want more!
    • 4/5
      This was a very engaging story. Written in the style of a Gothic novel, this story is very reminiscent of Jane Eyre, with a unique twist. The secret to the story is revealed to the reader as the main character figures it out, in a very realistic way.What prevented this book from getting 5 stars was what I felt to be an unnecessary subplot that only served to bog the story down. I understand that our main character needed a "hook" of some kind to be convinced to write the biography she's been charged with writing, but I felt that Setterfield took the "ghost story" aspect of her lost twin too far.That would not stop me from heartily recommending this book to anyone who likes Gothic novels.
    • 4/5
      I started reading and immediately liked Margaret Lea the narrator. There was something in her quiet manner that reached out through the pages of the book, took my hand and gently lead me through the history of Angelfield House and the story of Vida Winter.Vida is an author coming to the end of her life and wishes to have her biography written. She wants to ?tell the truth? as she puts it. Margaret is her biographer. As the tale unfolds you are drawn into the dark places and secrets of Vida?s childhood and consequent to those revelations, you are entrusted with Margaret?s own secrets and fears.The prose was magical to me, quite beautiful, and put me in mind of a modern day Jane Austen. Descriptions and characters were so well written that I can still see them now.My opinion - A ghost story. A mystery. A love story. Whatever you choose to call it, this was a book that was recommended to me by quite a few people, well they were all dead right. A great story and a wonderful experience.
    • 4/5
      The Thirteenth Tale is an intriguing, slightly hysterical gothic novel, full of twists and turns with some utterly spellbinding storytelling weaving it all together. I found the narrator slightly too dramatic for my tastes, but it all adds to a thrillingly Victorian-Romantic sensibility. I think if you are familiar with that genre of novels (Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey, The Woman in White, Wuthering Heights) you will really enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      The first quarter of the novel is a little over-written, but once the story gets going it becomes a lot of fun.
    • 5/5
      Excellent "modern day" gothic tale (if such a thing could exist...). I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Storytelling at its best!
    • 4/5
      This was a tale that sucked me in from the beginning and didn't let me go until the very last page and then I still just sat there and thought about it, let it haunt me for a little longer. It was literary fiction, it was a Gothic novel, it was a mystery, and for me it even turned into a tear jerker. I can't tell you exactly when anything in this novel takes place and that is because a date is never mentioned. It does nothing but add to the feel of the book, increases your wondering, increases the mystery. To say much about the actual plot, other than what it says in the synopsis, I think would be a bit of a spoiler. This story must unfold as you read it, as you become as invested in it as both Miss Winter and Margaret are. There are enough twists and turns and sub-plots to keep just about anyone interested. If you enjoy a well written, engrossing, haunting novel then I would suggest you give this one a try.
    • 4/5
      It's a corking tale and no mistake. Great characters, great plot, rather less great writing.The style was what annoyed me, intensely so for the first few chapters. It's far too self-conscious, too aware of itself, a little too Daphne Du Maurier. Why does no one speak like a real person with contractions?! Everyone here is 'I am' and 'he was'-ing like the cast of The Godfather. I also failed to be convinced by the supernatural elements and the whole business of people so terribly cerebral and bookish they forget to eat felt very clich?.But the tale is all. The story is undoubtedly compelling, the ending (to me) a delightful surprise. The plot took me over and kept me turning those pages so that my initial irritation at the writing style was pretty soon forgotten.A very enjoyable book, perfect companion for a long train journey or a winter's night but not a book that entirely lives up to its hype; it's not one I'll read and re-read, not one that continues to live in the mind after you've turned the last page. It's not quite a 4* book, I want to give it 3 and a half but I'll be generous and average up because it was, despite its faults, very enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful story ? with the theme of twins and twin-ness running through it. Beautifully written. Lovely. Pure magic. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This book really captured me. A very pleasurable and satisfying read. Mysterious twins, secret stories, what is true?? And lots of books! A great book with which to curl up on the couch and forget the world.
    • 5/5
      "I was spellbound. There is something about words in expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner."I was definitely taken prisoner by this novel. Diane Setterfield, weaved a story that I could not put down. I was captivated and in awe from start to finish. The story follows Margaret Lea, full time book lover and part time biographer. Vida winter is a best selling author and a recluse. Though her books and stories brought her fame, no one knows anything about Vida. Whenever someone would try to dig out the truth and find bits of her past, she would spin another tale, another story. Vida Winter's life and past remained a mystery. After crying wolf so many times, she was ready to tell her story and so a letter appeared before Margaret.As one digs and hunts for the truth in another's life, you end up confronting your own truth, your own story. For everyone has a story. This novel was written so well, that you get to read the story from different points of view while jumping from past to present, without it being confusing or overwhelming. This story is a family drama involving complex and complicated relationships. This story is a mystery with its secret finally being written. The story is also gothic with it's haunted house and ghosts. It's a story of love and loss and when its all woven together, you get a tale like no other.Without spilling all the juicy details and hidden messages of this wonderful story, I will stop here. The only thing left to say is, The Thirteenth Tale is a book for book lovers, for those who love the written word. A story for those who love to get lost in the pages of a book.
    • 5/5
      This was one of my favorite books ever! It was a very quick read, because I was hooked at the first page and could hardly put it down.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this story. The writing was careful and academic without being stuffy. The plot kept me thinking - is it a ghost story, a memoir, something else? And the ending was simple and sweet.
    • 4/5
      I truly enjoyed this book. I loved then narrator's mini-story, so real that you could actually feel that you were in a book store...and then add it to the engrossing Vida Winter tale; I just couldn't put this book down. I didn't want it to end either.