“Everybody has a story. It’s like families. You might not know who they are, might have lost them, but they exist all the same. You might drift apart or you might turn your back on them, but you can’t say you haven’t got them. Same goes for stories.” -- The Thirteenth Tale
In The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield has told a story within a story and then some. She has proved herself an accomplished mystery writer as well as a master storyteller. Using the guise of Vida Winter as an unreliable narrator, Setterfield sets the reader up for the revelation of multiple plot twists. Who is Vida Winter? Where are the March twins, Emmeline and Adeline? What happened to the ghost girl? Will Aurelius find his mother and the rest of his family, and what drives his attachment to the Angelfield Estate? There is a lot of detail in the story but also an unsettling vagueness about time and place. The reader is challenged to think carefully about each part of the story. The timeline was confusing, but interest was sustained as more facts were revealed. The unraveling of hidden secrets and resulting tragedies intrigued the members.
What is the true significance of Margaret as the narrator? Margaret and Vida were equally matched despite the age difference. The heart of the story may be the significance of twins and their bonds with each other. Margaret told her story about the loss of her own twin shortly after birth. She is able to use her experience with Vida’s life story to come to terms with that loss of self and move on with her life. This led to a discussion about personal experience with twins in the family which led to comments and questions from members who did not have twins in their own families. This part of the discussion evolved into stories within stories, mirroring The Thirteenth Tale.
Just when readers have solved a mystery, another one takes its place. Readers said that they kept up with the story and that loose ends were nicely tied up at the end, but many said that there was something unsettling underneath the narrative. One of the group said she read the book and then read it a second time. After the discussion she said she needed to read it again. The discussion led to members reading passages from the book to illustrate their beliefs about characters and their relationships to each other. This led others in the group to counter arguments with other quotes.
Everyone said that the book was well worth reading and would recommend it to others. The meeting ended with the desire of the group to meet again to continue the discussion.
