Helpful Score: 1
"A ruined mansion in the English countryside, secret illegitimate children, a madwoman hidden in the attic, ghostly twin sisters-yep, it's a gothic novel, and it doesn't pretend to be anything fancier. But this one grabs the reader with its damp, icy fingers and doesn't let go until the last shocking secret has been revealed.
Margaret Lea, an antiquarian bookseller and sometime biographer of obscure writers, receives a letter from Vida Winter, "the world's most famous living author." Vida has always invented pasts for herself in interviews, but now, on her deathbed, she at last has decided to tell the truth and has chosen Margaret to write her story. Now living at Vida's (spooky) country estate, Margaret finds herself spellbound by the tale of Vida's childhood some 70 years earlier...but is it really the truth? And will Vida live to finish the story?
"A plain girl gets wrapped up in a dark, haunted ruin of a house, which guards family secrets that are not hers and that she must discover at her peril. Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, has written an obscure biography that suggests deep understanding of siblings. She is contacted by renowned aging author Vida Winter, who finally wishes to tell her own, long-hidden, life story.
Margaret travels to Yorkshire, where she interviews the dying writer, walks the remains of her estate at Angelfield and tries to verify the old woman's tale of a governess, a ghost and more than one abandoned baby.
With the aid of colorful Aurelius Love, Margaret puzzles out generations of Angelfield: destructive Uncle Charlie; his elusive sister, Isabelle; their unhappy parents; Isabelle's twin daughters, Adeline and Emmeline; and the children's caretakers.
Contending with ghosts and with a (mostly) scary bunch of living people.
Okay first let me suggest you visit Diane Setterfield's site and read up on the book, if you don't like re-reads. It will not give much away just a lot to think about. (Her site has been closed, not sure why so I have added a different link below)
I read the book first, loved it, couldn't put it down. Then looked up the writer to see if she had something else out, she didn't. This was her first book, her second book ( which I just found out ) comes out Nov 5 2013. 'Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story'
Brillant writer.
The site gives new meaning to re-read if you have read the book first. Many twist and turns. If you want to remain clueless (which I'm glad I was) do not go to the site.
For those who want to know and have a heads up on what to look for when you read the book...
http://www.veronicaheley.com/thethirteenthtale.php?l2=78&l1=63
Awesome read.
Margaret Lea, an antiquarian bookseller and sometime biographer of obscure writers, receives a letter from Vida Winter, "the world's most famous living author." Vida has always invented pasts for herself in interviews, but now, on her deathbed, she at last has decided to tell the truth and has chosen Margaret to write her story. Now living at Vida's (spooky) country estate, Margaret finds herself spellbound by the tale of Vida's childhood some 70 years earlier...but is it really the truth? And will Vida live to finish the story?
"A plain girl gets wrapped up in a dark, haunted ruin of a house, which guards family secrets that are not hers and that she must discover at her peril. Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, has written an obscure biography that suggests deep understanding of siblings. She is contacted by renowned aging author Vida Winter, who finally wishes to tell her own, long-hidden, life story.
Margaret travels to Yorkshire, where she interviews the dying writer, walks the remains of her estate at Angelfield and tries to verify the old woman's tale of a governess, a ghost and more than one abandoned baby.
With the aid of colorful Aurelius Love, Margaret puzzles out generations of Angelfield: destructive Uncle Charlie; his elusive sister, Isabelle; their unhappy parents; Isabelle's twin daughters, Adeline and Emmeline; and the children's caretakers.
Contending with ghosts and with a (mostly) scary bunch of living people.
Okay first let me suggest you visit Diane Setterfield's site and read up on the book, if you don't like re-reads. It will not give much away just a lot to think about. (Her site has been closed, not sure why so I have added a different link below)
I read the book first, loved it, couldn't put it down. Then looked up the writer to see if she had something else out, she didn't. This was her first book, her second book ( which I just found out ) comes out Nov 5 2013. 'Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story'
Brillant writer.
The site gives new meaning to re-read if you have read the book first. Many twist and turns. If you want to remain clueless (which I'm glad I was) do not go to the site.
For those who want to know and have a heads up on what to look for when you read the book...
http://www.veronicaheley.com/thethirteenthtale.php?l2=78&l1=63
Awesome read.
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