The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield

One-sentence summary: A famous English author's secret past is revealed to a bookeeper's daughter, whose own story comes to light as she is told a stranger-than-fiction tale of the author's true life.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: The mysteries and suspense in the story and the language the writer uses.

Our least favorite thing: The breaks the author took to tell about present-day (we were too enthralled with the stories of the past!) and the lack of plausability of some points in the story.

Main Topics of Discussion: Twins, Death of a child, Literature similarities, Character analysis, Family relationships.

Our favorite quote: "There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic."

Notes: We talked a lot about the story itself - its strangeness, the characters' strangeness and how so many awkward and disfunctional (in a literal sense!) people could live under one leaky roof. We mostly agreed that we did not anticipate the ending of the story - most of us were surprised and then wanted to read the book again so that we could pick up on all the now-obvious clues the author left as to the true happenings with the twins. Grief was also discussed and we both understood how Margaret's mother could never be the same and also wondered at how she could never connect with her daughter who lives. We talked about each of the characters and what we thought of them. Ghosts were discussed as were the encounters Margaret had with her sister. And lastly, we talked about the book's similarities to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Chef Josh and his wonderful meal, margaritas, and presenting Amberly with our next book selection - complete with inscriptions from all of us for her to take to the Philippines.