The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - a book you can't put down!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

One of our book group moderators sent in this review by e-mail. This is what he said:

"This engrossing tale is a paean to the classic Gothic novel in the mold of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Woman in White. It is an atmospheric tale of reclusive geniuses with riveting stories to tell, eccentric families with secrets to hide, haunted houses, and murder. Ms. Satterfield manages to pull us in bit by bit, until we realize we can’t put the book down. Her descriptions are lush, her characters fascinating and unique, and her mastery of a presumed-dead genre dead-on.

Alan Z."

I couln't agree with Alan more: I couldn't put the book down either! For my own review of this book, and a couple of other comments, see this Blog and the posting for February 1, 2007.

Thinking about The Thirteenth Tale and how much I enjoyed it, I realised that I am repeatedly drawn to Gothic tales of eccentric characters with mysteries to solve or secrets to hide. I have just finished The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard, in which a retired New York City detective is hired by the Commandant of West Point in 1830 to solve the particularly gruesome murder of a cadet in the grounds of the academy. Gus Landor, the detective seeks the help of an eccentric cadet, none other than Edgar Allan Poe. Nothing in this book is without significance, including the reference to the Pale Blue Eye in the title. The book will appeal to readers who enjoy codes and puzzles and to readers of mysteries with literary allusions. People who liked the multiple layers of secrets in The Thirteenth Tale will enjoy The Pale Blue Eye. In both books the story is told by a narrator, and both involve family secrets, hauntings, grisly murder and a unique and somewhat bizarre setting.

If you can think of another similar title that you could recommend, please leave a comment!

Elizabeth