Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3240 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
"A fireside mystery with all the grisly trimmings" -- Catherine Shoard Evening Standard "This surprise bestseller is an enjoyably windswept story of incest, unnatural love and northern nastiness" -- Emma Hagestadt INDEPENDENT "highly accomplished...intriguing twists galore" -- Katie Owen Daily Telegraph "a captivating read" FIRST "A firesdie mystery with all the grisly trimmings" LONDON LITE "An involving and engrossing tale full of twists and turns...hard to put down!" My Weekly "riveting from start to finish" THE LADY

Review
"A fireside mystery with all the grisly trimmings" (Catherine Shoard Evening Standard )

"This surprise bestseller is an enjoyably windswept story of incest, unnatural love and northern nastiness" (Emma Hagestadt INDEPENDENT )

"highly accomplished...intriguing twists galore" (Katie Owen Daily Telegraph )

"a captivating read" (FIRST )

"A firesdie mystery with all the grisly trimmings" (LONDON LITE )

"An involving and engrossing tale full of twists and turns...hard to put down!" (My Weekly )

"riveting from start to finish" (THE LADY )

Katie Owen, Daily Telegraph
"highly accomplished...intriguing twists galore"

Customer Reviews

Gothic for those who don't read gothic...
Gothic novels invariably involve an old and rambling house, and a young woman who is staying there under a vague threat of sinister shadows. There is an old rambling house in this one. There are two, in fact. And a young woman staying in one of them. But instead of being threatened by mysteries, this one, Margaret Lea, is trying to unravel one. Ostensibly there to write the biography of best selling author Vida Winter, she becomes more and more drawn into Miss Winter's history.

The prose is easy and readable, and though it starts to drag a little in the middle, keeps the attention. There are many puzzles, but it's neatly tied up at the end. A few twists, which some might see coming and some rather unpleasant and unhappy characters. The thing I found irritating was the switching viewpoint, with details given that the narrator of the section couldn't possible know. But allowing for a bit of artistic licence in this, I enjoyed the whole thing.

The beginning, with its cloistered bookseller, his quiet book-loving daughter, and the mysterious 13th tale of the title, suggests a magical realism direction. Only when Margaret arrives at the desolate house on the Yorkshire moors do the gothic overtones come into force.

There are a few literary influences, notably Jane Eyre, though this isn't really a literary novel. It's a nicely written mystery yarn that could appeal to those who would normally give gothic a wide berth. An impressive debut.

A enchanting ghost-like story to curl up with in winter
This book turned out to be amazing! It started off a bit slowly and I wasn't really sure where the plot was going, but what a book! Twists and turns right to the last minute. For somebody who loves books and how much they mean, it was wonderful to read a novel which incorporated the characters' love of books and the hidden lives within the them. I couldn't put it down, I lost a whole weekend through reading towards the end! Wonderful

brilliant debut
I thoroughly enjoyed this book couldn't believe it was a debut novel!I love the way Diane Setterfield writes she had me fully absorbed in the story from start to finish.One of my favorite reads of 2008.Will be keeping my eye out for other books by Diane Setterfield in the future.