Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48359 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-06
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

FINANCIAL TIMES
'Diane Setterfield has a light lyric touch'

Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth
'I thought it was simply brilliant - I haven't enjoyed a first novel so much for absolutely ages.'

Robert Goddard
'This thoroughly absorbing and strangely other-worldly novel captivates the reader from the very first page.'

Customer Reviews

Another Eyre affair ...
I was a bit underwhelmed by this homage to Jane Eyre. I found it hard to like the narrator and erstwhile biographer Margaret who is rather dry, and the famous author she goes to interview is meant to be prickly at first and then grow on you. This all makes the first third slower going - but then the twists and turns start coming at you fast until we reach the end out of breath. We have the sub-plot with Margaret's twin to contend with, which is maybe there to give you a breather, but distracts from the main story. OddlyI found it hard to place the novel in time, no years are ever mentioned, there are no mobile phones in the world of the antiquarian bookseller, and Miss Winter's story has all the Gothic elements you could ever wish for.
A curious psychological drama - a fairly enjoyable read for me. One positive thing - it has made me want to re-read Jane Eyre!

The perfect book group read
I just loved this book, written in such a beautiful style that I wouldn't have minded if it had said nothing - but the content was fascinating and made for an excellent book group discussion.

Margaret Lea, a young reclusive biographer, is surprised to receive an invitation from the famous Mrs Winter, a highly acclaimed and productive author who tells a different version of her life story to every interviewer.
She has decided to tell 'The Truth'.
And so we get a book within a book, the fascinating story of Vida Winter and her ancestors, an aristocratic, eccentric family - with the lives of the author and the biographer wrapped around the outside.
And to top it all, a mystery that makes you want to go back and reread the book for all the clues you missed first time. Excellent!

A Tale To keep You Reading
When a famous author decides to tell her TRUE life story at last, you can sit back and have a jolly good read.
Twins, a governess, ghosts and gardener's all come out of the cupboard, to keep those pages turning.
I enjoyed the read, and I kept going back to it to find out the answers, but strangely enough I can't see me going back for further reads, unlike other favourite books of mine.
Nevertheless, a fine first novel.