Tuesday, February 19th @ 6:30pm
in the library…
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Vida Winter is a famous author, whose life story is coming to an end. Margaret Lea is a young, unworldly, bookish girl who is a bookseller in her father’s shop…
New Readers are welcome to join us! We are always looking for new opinions and laughter!
8 Comments
I love this months book choice. I would call it a mystery, it has you hooked throughout. The style of writing reminds me of several authors, VC Andrews for one. Do other people like it?
I thought the story started off a little slow, but once the two women meet it has you “hooked” as Devon says. I have always wondered what it would be like to have a twin - a person who was once the same cell as yourself - but a different person altogether. I love how Emmeline is described as being able to “smell” the presence of her sister in the house.
I just finished this book and I have to say I loved it. Whenever an author jumps back and forth in time I am leery - it isn’t an easy thing to pull off. The way Diane Setterfield handled the timing makes you feel the frustration of Margaret. I wanted to scream every time Vida got tired or angry and sent Margaret away. It was a great chance to see the ramifications of the storyline from the past - but still.
Any book that can leave you emotional after a chapter is a great book for me - whatever the emotion. This should be a great discussion for February!
Did you really buy all the lamentations of Margaret over her lost twin though?
NO! She was a child with a scar. OK, I have never been a twin…. but, a child that is lost through co-existance from a shared body part. Alot of parents have had to make that decision. I felt for her mother, she never was the same again.
Was Margret torn with what happened to her twin, or just missing her twin? I feel she was too young to remember a twin.
The character who really bugs me throughout this book is Margaret’s mother.
There are so many women who lose a child and do not completely igmore their other LIVING children. In the words of Carolyn Aldridge, who has endured a lot more than Margaret’s mother, “GET OVER IT!!!!”
Do you think this author has problems with books that do not end all neat and tiday wth every question answered and every loose end perfectly tied? I liked all the twists at the end, but the last little bit where she has to clarify every little thing is such an anticlimax to such an eloquently written story. It sound like a fifth grader wrote the last two pages with the typical “in conclusion” style of ending something you can’t find a more creative way to end - loose ends are a part of life - because life goes on and never ends all neat and tidy!
BTW - Since this book is about “birth” stories - let’s all share ours at the meeting - and we’re celebrating mine and Tina’s who are this week!
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
Yes - bring your birth stories and appetite! We’ll celebrate the birth of Carol and Tina and share our horror stories. Although I may not be able to beat the toddler living on her own in the woods bit…
At first I was hesitant, but I trusted Sara and Michele because they know exactly the kind of book I like to read. I really enjoyed this book. It was truly a book where I couldn’t wait to pick it back up again. Just enough mystery and the whole twin thing…
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