The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel, by Diane Setterfield
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I have to admit: I was absolutely enamored with this book… until I got to the end, when my feelings began to waver. Told by two narrators - one a best-selling author with a mysterious past, the other her young biographer - at first The Thirteenth Tale is wildly captivating. Learning about the Angelfield twins is like being drawn into tale that is part gothic ghost story and part modern mystery. Setterfield maintains this pitch for most of the book, but sadly, allows the narrative to falter somewhat towards the end. Although the culmination of the Angelfield history is fascinating, there is too much fluff on either side of it. A long set of uninteresting journal entries beforehand, and a drawn out “wrapping things up” section afterwards. Also, a few storyline questions were left unanswered - no reason for that after 406 pages. Still, this book did make my commute something to look forward to, no small feat considering I spend a good four hours on trains & subways every day!
