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Margaret Lea, an amateur biographer, received a letter from a well known novelist to hear her story. The novelist, Vida Winter, is known to always tell a glamorous and different stories of herself when asked. Intrigued, Margaret decides to at least visit and at least speak to this mysterious persona. From then on, she was drawn to the story like a moth to a light.
I was really looking forward to reading this book that I was scared of being let down. BUT from the top of page 2, I was completely su ...more
I was really looking forward to reading this book that I was scared of being let down. BUT from the top of page 2, I was completely su ...more
A book that harkens back to the classic gothic novels – ghosts, mad relatives hidden in the attic, secret passageways, spinster governesses who fall in love with the doctor, loyal housekeepers, reticent gardeners.
There are stories within stories and a compelling forward momentum, despite the constant return to the past.
I was consumed with trying to figure out the time frame. Isabelle is taken away in a brougham. Margaret is seemingly without a computer (or even a typewriter), but has phone ser ...more
There are stories within stories and a compelling forward momentum, despite the constant return to the past.
I was consumed with trying to figure out the time frame. Isabelle is taken away in a brougham. Margaret is seemingly without a computer (or even a typewriter), but has phone ser ...more
Aug 09, 2014
Nancy
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
still-owned,
books-about-books
The Thirteenth Tale is a beautifully written book which keeps you gripped right from the outset. It might be a ghost story or it might not, but it is nevertheless a book full of mystery and discovery of the past. I loved the descriptions of the bookshop and the library - if you're a book lover, then you can't help but feel the same thrill and delight at the thought of both of them. About the only tiny thing that detracted was the end. I felt the author laboured the end a little bit. It could hav
...more
2007 Alex Selection
the audio book is fantastic! i really, really enjoyed the descriptive narration throughout, discussing love of books, scenery, feelings....
it did stall in a few places, but picked up again. i was quite enthralled with the story so i didn't mind too much. really enjoyed the secondary characters as well. it's darker than i was aware of when i picked up the book to read as part of a GR's group book choice. but i really liked the ending and all the mysteries. definitely one you mu ...more
the audio book is fantastic! i really, really enjoyed the descriptive narration throughout, discussing love of books, scenery, feelings....
it did stall in a few places, but picked up again. i was quite enthralled with the story so i didn't mind too much. really enjoyed the secondary characters as well. it's darker than i was aware of when i picked up the book to read as part of a GR's group book choice. but i really liked the ending and all the mysteries. definitely one you mu ...more
This is a really interesting book with lots of twists and turns and confusingly similar parallel plot lines. I listened to the audio CD version read by Jill Tanner and Bianca Amato who both did a great job but because of the intricate story lines it would have been nice to have a hard copy to re-read some of the more confusing sections. There is the current day plot line in which Margaret Lea, a twin, is selected by world renowned author Vida Winter, also a twin, to write her biography, the trut
...more
I really liked this book. It wasn't at all what I expected. However, I was mildly disappointed in the ending. I hate it when books attempt a quick wrap up.
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I devoured this, so many mildly disturbing open questions kept me from putting it down.
Aug 14, 2010
Mimi
marked it as to-read
Aug 18, 2014
Jenny Gudgen Spradlin
marked it as to-read
Sep 05, 2014
Jody
marked it as tbr-non-list-books
Sep 16, 2015
Cecilia
marked it as to-read
