The_Thirteenth_TaleA biographer, Margaret Lea, is asked to write the true life story of the infamous author, Vida Winter.  Vida Winter is known for giving the press and anyone who asks a story of her life that is false.  Vida, upon her deathbed, promises to tell Margaret the truth.  Behind Vida’s story are secrets that have the power to not only unlock Vida’s life, but, also, to remove the darkness that has beheld Margaret since her birth.

The novel begins very, very slowly.  The novel is told through both Margaret and Vida.  The first voice that we hear is Margaret’s and Margaret is a very, slow tedious person that needs to tell you every single detail even though you don’t really need it for the story.  I almost dumped this book because I thought that it was so slow.  However, like Margaret, when Vida tells Margaret that her story is about “Twins.” Margaret stops and is suddenly desperate to hear the story that Vida is going to tell her.  Once Vida launches into her story, I became completely sucked in.  As the story switched from Vida to Margaret, Margaret’s voice becomes less rigid and more interesting. So, I was not going back and forth between boredom and interest; I was interested once Vida’s voice came through.

When Vida tells her story in the beginning, I forgot that there was a mystery to be solved.  I became completely entranced in the story of Isabelle, Charlie, Adeline and Emeline.  While I was listening to their story, I knew that something was not quite right about the way that they lived, but the entire story had such a fairy tale quality about it that I let the story carry me without thinking of where Vida fit into this tale.  Then Margaret’s voice would come back into the tale and remind me of what the point of her visit was, which was to learn about Vida. Who was Vida in this story?  Was she who she said she was?  Was she finally telling the truth?

The Thirteenth Tale at its heart is about storytelling.  What I loved most about the novel is that Setterfield never forgot what her craft was, which was a novel.  Setterfield uses the novel to mislead…or lead the reader where she wants because she knows that as a reader you cannot see the characters and you are only allowed to deduce or solve the mystery as much as Setterfield wants you to.  While this fact is frustrating at times; it is what compels you to keep reading because you still reach for what Setterfield is holding onto.

Although the novel begins slowly, The Thirteenth Tale is an eloquently told tale that will leave you heartbroken and melancholic for the secrets of these characters that they hold onto.

Book Source: Hennepin County Library, Eden Prairie Location, Audiobook

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