The Thirteenth Tale: Summary

The Thirteenth Tale follows Margaret Lea, daughter of a bookshop owner and a biographer herself. Books had been a part of her life since day one. It is said that she prefer books to people. One day, she received a letter from Vida Winter, a famous author with several bestseller books. Ms. Winter asked Margaret to write her biography. Margaret was going to refuse it, until she read Ms. Winter’s debut novel called Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She was intrigued when she realized that there’s only twelve stories in the book. Margaret then accepted the offer with one condition, that Ms. Winter had to tell the truth.

I started reading this book without knowing much other than what the goodreads’ summary says. I had no expectation. I didn’t even sure what kind of story this book is, horror? Mystery? Romance? Supernatural? I didn’t know. My initial reaction was I thought that The Thirteenth Tale was going to be interesting. It has good opening and intriguing premise. The main character, Margaret, is an avid reader. Something that I can relate to. So I was excited. But then come the Ms. Winter part. I was losing my interest. Ms. Winter narration is so long and I found it boring. Especially because not much happening for a while. Until the mystery and the twist coming out.

I believe The Thirteenth Tale is what you would call a gothic novel. The book

It’s never clearly stated. Sure, there are hints here and there. But not much to give us at least the exact year. The characters in this book like to reference classic novels such as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which means that it’s set after 1886 (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde publication year). There’s a mention of telephone, but no computer at all. Margaret likes to write using paper and pencil. I’m guessing before the era of personal computer so before 1970s? I don’t know. But this adds more of the classic gothic effect to the