The Thirteenth Tale
The Thirteenth Tale
副标题: A Novel
ISBN: 9780743298025
出版社: Atria Books
出版年: 2006-09-12
页数: 416
定价: GBP 16.06
装帧: Hardcover
内容简介
When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.
All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.
The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.
As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.
Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.
作者简介
戴安娜·赛特菲尔德（Diane Setterfield），现年四十多岁，原本研究法国文学，是安德烈·纪德专家。在英国的中学、大学教书，定居约克郡。
她在1999年对教学感厌倦，毅然放下教鞭，写起小说来。不过写作生涯殊不容易，她开始时曾因写作进度停滞不前而放弃，与丈夫过着节俭的生活。她其后从创意写作课程重获灵感和启发，终写成其首部小说《第十三个故事》。