This new book by Diane Setterfield is the best book I have read all year! It's complex, engrossing, captivating... It took me a long time to read, but I would do a chapter or two a night, and then it was in the forefront of my mind all day. Margaret Lea is a reclusive woman who lives over her family's antiquarian bookshop, and is content to spend her life surrounded by the written word and her father's company. She spends some of her time conducting biographical research, and has managed to have some of her work published. This has brought her to the attention of one Miss Vida Winter, an incredibly famous but secretive author who commands Margaret's presence at her mansion so that she can dictate her life story to Margaret.
Over the course of Margaret's stay there, she learns as much about herself as she does about the incredibly fantastic past of her new employer, a story involving all the classic elements: love, betrayal, scandals and secrets. She also finds a way to take control of her own life, and make decisions rather than just letting things happen. Overall, The Thirteenth Tale is a book that I would recommend to anybody, with no reservations, for its attention to detail, originality, and extremely entertaining story.
