September 2008, Kari's Choice
This month's book is The Thirteen Tale, by Diane Setterfield
From Reading Group Guides: Margaret Lea works in her father’s antiquarian bookshop where her fascination for the biographies of the long-dead has led her to write them herself. She gets a letter from one of the most famous authors of the day, the mysterious Vida Winter, whose popularity as a writer has been in no way diminished by her reclusiveness. Until now, Vida has toyed with journalists who interview her, creating outlandish life histories for herself --- all of them invention. Now she is old and ailing, and at last she wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. Her letter to Margaret is a summons.Somewhat anxiously, the equally reclusive Margaret travels to Yorkshire to meet her subject. Vida’s strange, gothic tale features the Angelfield family; dark-hearted Charlie and his unbrotherly obsession with his sister, the fascinating, devious, and willful Isabelle, and Isabelle’s daughters, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline. Margaret is captivated by the power of Vida’s storytelling, but she doesn’t entirely trust Vida’s account. She goes to check up on the family, visiting their old home and piecing together their story in her own way. What she discovers on her journey to the truth is for Margaret a chilling and transforming experience.
5 comments:
I may have hidden this at Book Group, but having read the book when it first came out, I did not find the time to refresh my memory. I have to say that I did not remember a thing that you all were talking about! So here's my question to you book groupies--do you remember more the details of the book or just the feeling you had when reading it?
Ahh, the truth comes out! At least you faked it pretty well. I think I remember details of a book (you know I'm good with random trivia and such) but also the general tone of a book sticks with me.(Atonement=confusion, Shipping News=cold,dark,depressing, Curious Incident = quirky, light)
True confessions,right? I'm still reading it! And it's not at all what I expected---intriguing, a little dark, and nothing I can relate to (you know, being a twin and all....)
You did hide it well! I think this is a book I would forget the details of... I'm sure I'll remember it better, now that we discussed it in book group. I often forget book details, especially intricate mysteries like this one, but the overall tone usually stays with me.
I kind of like it that way - it makes it enjoyable to read books I remember liking again!
I just finished listening to the book on tape. And I loved it just as much the second time! May I recommend waiting about a year for the memory of the book to fade and then listening to it on CD. It was probably about my second favorite reader for Books on Tape (the first one being Jim Dale who reads the Harry Potter series).
So now I have some questions now that I know who is who in the book--what was the general concensus about who the living twin was--Emmeline or Adeline? And were you convinced that Ambrose was the father of Aurelius?
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