Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. Margaret is mesmerized by the author’s tale of gothic strangeness – featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good.

Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Early in the novel, there is an exchange between the two main characters. Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. There are many sub-par narrators out there, but Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner do a masterful job with The Thirteenth Tale. And something about this season makes me want to escape into that kind of tale right away – anyone else? Side note, from the synopsis, it sounds like a magical version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (at least in its structure), doesn’t it? I’m not a frequent fantasy reader, but I do enjoy occasionally slipping into a world with some magic mixed in. Secondly, the start of winter always has me craving a bit of magic. First of all, it comes highly recommended by many readers I trust, including my friend Erica. Without further ado, here is our December choice! The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield Finally, I’ll be sharing a wrap up review to the blog, including both my own opinions and the opinions of my fellow readers! You can share your progress with me using the hashtag: #readwithbookgirl. I’ll be posting about my progress in my instagram stories and then we’ll discuss on instagram at the end of the month. Each month, I’m choosing a book for us to read together. We will be hosting all of our discussions over instagram! Welcome to the NYC book club! Please note: you do NOT have to live in NYC to participate.

The 13th tale