November 13, 2007
Mother Talk book review: The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
Once upon a time, before I was a mom, I taught English literature, specifically eighteenth and nineteenth-century literature. My real love is the novel, because I am a nerd and I am fascinated by the structure of literary narrative and the self-reflexive nature of a really well-written novel. In other words, I like stories that are self-consciously about narrative — novels that are about novels.
I told you I was a nerd.
Diane Setterfield’s debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, is a novel about novels. But before you cross it off your list as too smart or too hard, let me tell you that “The Thirteenth Tale” is also a ghost story, scary enough to keep you awake at night, which is fine because the story is so compelling that you won’t want to put it down for something as silly as sleeping.
The basic plot is this: amateur biographer Margaret Lea is summoned by Vida Winter, the most popular novelist of the day. Despite the elderly Miss Winter’s profound commercial success, and its attendant celebrity, nothing factual is known about her life. Every story she has told the press over the years is a fiction. But now, it appears, she is ready to tell the truth about herself. And she wants to tell Margaret.
Margaret has her own story, of course; a spinster of indeterminate age, she lives above her father’s antiquarian bookstore, and spends her days helping in the store and reading. She also spends her days mourning the loss of her twin sister, a loss that prevents her from moving ahead with her life, and one that is crucial to the larger story Setterfield is telling. Of course.
Margaret is, above all, a reader, and her reading both guides us and distracts us as we read her account of Vida Winter’s life story.
I read old novels. The reason is simple: I prefer proper endings. Marriages and deaths, noble sacrifices and miraculous restorations, tragic separations and unhoped-for reunions, great falls and dreams fulfilled; these, in my view, constitute an ending worth the wait. They should come after adventures, perils, dangers and dilemmas, and wind everything up nice and neatly. Endings like this are to be found more commonly in old novels than in new ones, so I read old novels. (29)
Margaret’s devotion to old novels is, of course, a clue to the structure of this novel; Setterfield relies heavily on the conventions of eighteenth and nineteenth century Gothic fiction. But “The Thirteenth Tale” is not an old novel; it is a post-modern, magic realist novel of the best sort, one where neat endings are not possible, at least not in the way Margaret is hoping for.
“The Thirteenth Tale” is a story of secrets, and of how secrets haunt families. It is also the story of narrative, and of the incredible power of narrative. All of us use stories to arrange our lives, to find our place in the world — the stories of our birth and our childhood and marriage and career. We edit and refine those stories to serve some purpose, to illustrate something about us, about our life and its importance. And in the end, it is not so much the story itself, but how that story is told, what is included and what is left out, that really matters. Diane Setterfield tells a truly compelling story, one that gains speed and momentum and urgency as the pages grow fewer, but she also tells a story that is remarkable for its twists and turns and secrets. At the end of the last page of “The Thirteenth Tale,” you will feel like you need to go back to the beginning and read the novel again, to trace all the twists now that you know where they lead. It is that kind of story.
Posted by Susan @ 9:31 am • pretty things
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November 13th, 2007 at 10:14 am, Kimmie Says:
Hmf. Now I have to run to the library.
November 13th, 2007 at 10:37 am, Tina Says:
Hi, regular lurker from the UK. Love your site - have you tried Atonement by Ian McEwan? Novel about writing (sort of).
have just finished Eng Lit degree, so I’m a fellow nerd.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:16 am, Janssen Says:
I read this book a few months ago and LOVED it - just deliciously creepy and mysterious.
And well-written. Just like your review.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:20 am, arduous Says:
That sounds like a delicious book. I will have to read it. It also sounds somewhat similar to “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon which was a wonderful and also creepy book. You should check it out!
November 13th, 2007 at 11:43 am, daysgoby Says:
Julia critiqued this today too! She loved it for mainly the same reasons but different parts of the book got her, which I thyink is fascinating.
I’m 3/4 done, and hating that it will end.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:43 am, All Adither Says:
Love the pic on the cover. The colors are so rich. I want to devour it whole before I’ve even read a word.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:50 pm, MotherTalk » Blog Archive » “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield Says:
[…] 13: Friday Playdate, a self-proclaimed nerd, loves novels about novels. “Diane Setterfield’s debut novel, The […]
November 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm, janet Says:
oooh, i looooooved this book. couldn’t put it down until i had finished the very last delicious page.
and yes, then i wanted to start again!
November 13th, 2007 at 11:35 pm, becky Says:
ok, you just made me love you a little bit (ok, a lot) more. and dammit, i was just at the bookstore earlier tonight.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:05 am, Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah Says:
I really liked this one too. It was one of those novels that I just couldn’t put down.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:55 am, Kendra Says:
We called ourselves ‘English egg-heads’ back in the day (how can it possibly be over 15 years since I graduated college?)
I’ve been looking for something to read that is not just fluff, (I believe that there is a place for fluff in the literary world-like those brain-dead months after childbirth!?!), and this sounds like a winner!
November 14th, 2007 at 8:36 pm, Corey Says:
I also loved this book. I read in your comments a reference to “The Shadow of the Wind.” I think I read both of these books in the same week. Both excellent reads!
November 14th, 2007 at 10:13 pm, becky Says:
pee ess) i forgot to mention my english degree, freshly earned this last june.
January 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pm, P Coulter Says:
just finished and wasn’t worth the time spent- not a gothic novel fan and this was way toooo full of unreal episodes and people for me.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield « Read ‘em and eat… Says:
[…] Read a review […]