Author: Diane SetterfieldWell, wow. You know those books where, after you finish it, you close the back cover, flip it over, and stare into space for a minute or two, trying to absorb what you've just experienced, trying to let it all percolate in your head? Letting the lyrical cadences of the wonderful writing echo back through your mind? This book was just like that. It was also an honest-to-goodness, can't-put-down story.
The Thirteenth Tale, a perfectly delicious gothic mystery, had shades of Wuthering Heights (a strange, sordid family, the Yorkshire moors; as well, the character of Isabelle Angelfield reminded me strongly of Cathy Linton); The Turning of the Screw (a governess caring for two strange children, ghosts), Rebecca, The Secret Garden (again, the wild Yorkshire moors and the theme of gardens for hurting and/or healing), and last but not least, Jane Eyre (madwoman, attic, fire). In fact Bronte's Jane Eyre was such a central theme to the story that it was almost another character, a device used to give the reader clues to the mystery.
It was also fascinating trying to figure out the modern equivalent of the various psychological disorders exhibited by the central characters - the Angelfield family - and how they were dealt with. Equally compelling were the consequences and havoc those disorders wrought.
This was also a book about book lovers, and books. You can hardly go wrong with such a story. And that was exactly what it was - a wonderful, mysterious, dark, eerie, compelling story, written as if you were in the same room as the narrator. Listening to her as she recounted the mysterious occurrences through flashback.
This book had such rich atmosphere, such compelling characters that came alive in the pages, a great plot, and best, a drawn-out mystery that left you hungering to find out exactly what happened.
This one gets an A+.
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