The Thirteenth Tale

''We live like latecomers at the theatre; we must catch up as best we can, dividing the beginning from the shape of later events.''

The Thirteenth Tale had been ‘‘waiting'' in my TBR list for almost two years, before I finally decided to start reading it. It proved to be a rare bibliophile's experience.

In the Gothic Literature group October Reading and in a recent discussion with a friend in Goodreads, I described Diane Setterfield's novel as foreboding. Each scene, each sentence is a creation of art, each detail so important, nothing is wasted. Each page leads to the shocking final twist, although some of the twists in the middle of the book were a bit predictable, if you paid attention. I will not go into any detail of the plot, because it is hard to do so without falling into the trap of spoiling something, but I can say that the lover of books will find a treasure of references. The most prominent reference is Jane Eyre (and rightfully so), with Wuthering Heights and The Woman in White following closely. Why? Foreboding houses, problematic narrators, troubled heroines, and all the sins and faults of the past that go on haunting families and places. Even Sherlock Holmes gets an honourable mention, since there are some riddles that require answers as there are some characters that desire truth and others that seek absolution.

For some reason, Miss Winter reminds me of a modern Miss Havisham, from the first glimpse of her through the eyes of Margaret Lea, the young amateur biographer. Margaret is a very interesting character that stands as equal to the troubled Vida. She is sensitive, almost fragile, but strong at the same and so determined to exorcise her own demons.

The Thirteenth Tale has all the characteristics of a heavy cloud before the storm. It is a classic, a haunting tale, its prose elegant and poetic. A tale that shows us that the most dangerous ghosts exist not in a world beyond, but fully in our own...