Braddy Reads The Thirteenth Tale

Part of me is bugged by self-referential art: movies about moviemaking, poems about poetry, rock songs about how great it is to rock. These particular expressions are good enough for those who are already fans of a genre, but how must they look to the potential convert? Doesn’t good art have the unspoken responsibility to proselytize to those unfamiliar with it?

I dunno.

Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is a book about books (as one can easily determine when, contrary to conventional wisdom, one judges the book by its cover). The story follows Margaret Lea, a bookstore employee and sometime biographer, after she is employed to write the life story of the reclusive Vida Winter, England’s premier novelist. What follows is a twisted, convoluted, and fascinating tale of hauntings, tragedies, and twins.

This is actually my second time reading The Thirteenth Tale. I’d recommended the book to a friend without ever reading it, based solely on the strength of the cover image. I picked the book up nearly a year later, shortly after graduating from college. I’ve remembered the book fondly since then, even though many of the particulars of the story, including the details surrounding the twist ending, have escaped me.

After re-reading The Thirteenth Tale, I can re-confirm what I’ve long told people when describing the story – it’s a more or less contemporary take on classic “haunted house” stories (I can’t help but think of Wuthering Heights when I read Setterfield’s novel). Whether you like the book or not would depend largely on how much you like that kind of literature.

A knowledge of classical literature, especially stories like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Turn of the Screw seems almost prerequisite. This is NOT a book for the initiate. One who doesn’t much care for reading will likely not get much out of The Thirteenth Tale... at least, not in my estimation. Perhaps I’m wrong there.

Avid readers, though? Those who like words and how they can line up in a sort of harmonious dance? Those readers will find a lot to like in The Thirteenth Tale. They will be reminded how great it is to rock.