DIANE Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is as notable for its timeless atmosphere as for its intriguing, page-turning plot.

Little is known about the enigmatic novelist Vida Winter, a bestselling author whose accounts of her past are apparently as inventive as the fictions she is loved for.

When Margaret Lea is summoned by Vida and told she has been chosen to write her biography, she is reluctant, but soon finds herself immersed in a story with an extraordinary twist at its heart. But Margaret is well aware of Vida’s talent for invention and she begins to dig deeper.

Margaret learns about the curious household at Angelfield House and hears the tale of the March family and Emmeline and Adeline, a pair of twins whose childhood is anything but traditional – did one of them grow up to become Vida?

As she is drawn into the colourful, tragic and alien lives that Vida’s account recreates, Margaret begins to uncover truths about her own life and troubled relationship with her mother.

Set in a landscape without any of the literary signposts that would pin the story to a definite time and place, The Thirteenth Tale has an ethereal air of mystery as if the tale being unravelled might all be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The large house falling in on itself, the whiff of incest and near-feral children creating their own reality combine in a novel of Gothic splendour, unputdownable once picked up as the reader is drawn in, like Margaret, powerless to break the spell of Vida’s narrative and the momentum of her own investigations.

HOW TO ORDER

The Thirteenth Tale, £7.99, offer price, £7.50, post and packing free. To order, call the Hereford Times Bookshop on 08700 713317 or send your cheque/ postal order, made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop, to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston, TR13 0TP.

Allow seven to 10 working days for delivery. Titles supplied subject to availability.

You can also order online at sparkledirect.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diane Setterfield is a former French lecturer, specialising in the work of André Gide. She made publishing history when The Thirteenth Tale, her first novel, was bought for an advance of £800,000. Like Margaret in The Thirteenth Tale, she is passionate about reading. Unlike Margaret, she is not a twin.

WIN A WATERSTONE’S GIFT CARD

Let us know what you think about The Thirteenth Tale and you could win a £10 Waterstone’s gift card. Email your review to htleisure@ midlands.newsquest.co.uk or post it to HTBook Group, Hereford Times, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9UJ, with your name, address and contact details. Usual competition rules apply. Deadline is midnight on Monday, July 6.

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