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26 internautes sur 30 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
A brilliant debut, Oct. 6 2006
When a first novel is immediately (and enthusiastically) compared to the works of such literary luminaries as the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, a large dose of skepticism is in order. I read this book with a jaundiced eye, expecting to eventually uncover at least one unconvincing character, a plot twist that failed to surprise, or a passage less than vivid, unworthy of the masters.
I did not.
Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale carries the reader along like a turbulent river, with unexpected eddies and undertows you can't escape. The characters are absolutely true to the worlds of Dickens and Austen, but they're originals, not derivatives. They grieve and you do, they rejoice and you do, they die and you do- almost. The whole atmosphere of the book is powerful and sweeping, in the manner of Henry James or even Joseph Conrad. (Well, minus all those ships, of course.) If I had to pick one story that gave the same overall effect as Setterfield's book, I'd pick The Turn of the Screw, since the ghost element in Setterfield's book is equally shocking and unique, although James's classic novella lacks the grand span and scope of The Thirteenth Tale. Then again, Setterfield's characters could just as easily find a home in Dickens' dangerous London squalor or in the halls of a Bronte mansion, the air thick with secrets and heavy with troubled specters anxious to make themselves known.
Intriguing, daring and even downright heart pounding at times, The Thirteenth Tale might well give you nightmares at the end, but they'll be the best- and most original- nightmares you've ever had.
-Mark Wakely, author of An Audience for Einstein
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12 internautes sur 14 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
A Stunning Tale of Insanity, Deceit, and Horrific Neglect, Mars 4 2007
Only a highly skilled author can write a compelling tale about a reclusive family whose world is small and not overly exciting. Yet Diane Setterfield does exactly this in The Thirteenth Tale.
The story centers around the deep emotional and physical bond of identical twins, Adeline and Emmeline Angelfield. This is a story of insanity, death, and the risk that telling the truth about the past imposes on others. It's also about how those proverbial little apples never fall far from their trees.
The novel opens when biographer and bibliophile, Margaret Lea, is hired to write the biography of world-famous fiction author Vida Winter, a woman who's nearing the end of her long life. For Margaret, who's only written the biographies of dead people, the challenge is intriguing and daunting because the famous Ms. Winter is notorious for never telling the same story twice about her life. In fact, she's told nineteen different versions about her past over a two-year period alone. The question becomes, what really happened in Vida's childhood, and is she telling Margaret the truth now or another fanciful story?
The more Margaret learns, the more sympathetic she becomes to the cantankerous Vida. For Vida was a twin. Margaret was also a twin who lost her sister at birth, a loss she's never come to terms with. The Thirteenth Tale is mystifying, heartbreaking, and so beautifully written that you won't forget this story any time soon.
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8 internautes sur 9 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
4.0étoiles sur 5
'It's my profession. I'm a storyteller.', Avril 14 2007
At first glance, this was not a book that would ordinarily appeal to me. And yet, there was something quite intriguing about it: friends were discussing it, the cover interested me, and it is a debut novel. Once I picked the novel up, I became quite enthralled by the telling of the story, by the descriptive language and by the multiple twists and turns.
I'm not sure how well each of the elements would work alone but I am certain that, for me, the whole package worked magnificently. How to categorise the book? I can't.
Read it for yourself and make your own judgment.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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