Margaret Lea toils away in her father's antiquarian bookstore
writing obscure articles and biographies on little known subjects.
Late one day she receives a letter from Vida Winter, the most
famous and prolific writer of the day (think Margaret Atwood),
summoning her to her home for the purpose of writing her biography.
Margaret is intrigued - but little does she know, what is in store
for her. Vida will tell the truth - and only the truth of her life.
But Margaret must promise not to ask any questions, push the story
along or ask for the ending before Vida is truly ready to tell it.
And so Vida begins the tale of the Angelfield family, whose lives
unfold against the backdrop of their secluded estate in the English
countryside. We come upon three generations - a father who becomes
despondent when the wife he loves dies in childbirth, his two
children, Charles and Isabelle whose dependent and bizarrely
destructive relationship ends when Isabelle is taken to an asylum
for the mentally deranged, and the twins Emmeline and Adeline, the
product of a brief affair between Isabelle and a Romeo who crossed
her path. We are totally drawn into their lives and yet the
connection between the Angelfields and Vida Winter remains a
mystery. Until that is, Margaret manages to put some disconnected
fragments of the story together. And then, Vida is truly ready to
let go of her deepest secrets.
The Thirteenth Tale is a magnificent story. So well written, so
well imagined. It is the kind of book one should save for the first
rainy fall day. Start reading at nine in the morning with a pot of
tea by your side. And know it will be the wee hours of the night
before you put this book down.