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 beloved collection of stories, long famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale. The enigmatic Winter has always kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she summons a biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life: Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth remains an ever-present pain. Disinterring the life she meant to bury for good, Vida mesmerizes Margaret with the power of her storytelling. Hers is a tale of gothic strangeness, featuring the Angelfield family -- including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, and the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline -- a ghost, a governess, and a devastating fire. Struck by a curious parallel between their stories, Margaret demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them. The Thirteenth Tale is a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and 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.
Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades. New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her...
In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin...
If you liked the Century Trilogy, you’ll love the “extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece.”—Booklist, that changed the course of Ken Follett’s already phenomenal career. “Follett risks all and comes out a...
Narrator: John Lee,Richard E. Grant Published: 10/09/2007
Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes...
Narrator: Bernadette Dunne,Elaina Erika Davis Published: 07/05/2000
If you liked the Century Trilogy, you’ll love the “extraordinary...monumental masterpiece” (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett’s already phenomenal career.“Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner,&r...
Narrator: John Lee,Richard E. Grant Published: 10/09/2007
This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.“The Ta...
The year is 1771. Claire Randall is still an outlander, out of place and out of time. But now she is linked by love to her only anchor--Jamie Fraser. They have crossed oceans and centuries to build a life together in North Carolina. But tensions, bo...
“The book is like a salve. I think the world feels disordered right now. The count’s refinement and genteel nature are exactly what we’re longing for.” —Ann Patchett“How delightful that in an era as crude as ours ...
Narrator: Nicholas Guy Smith Published: 09/06/2016
THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly BestsellerFor readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a “thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two f...
AudiobooksNow review by PATRICIA on 2015-02-26 12:44:50
Creepy , but lacking in plot for my taste. About a third of the way through, I got impatient to finish and find out if anything interesting would happen. Not a good sign.
AudiobooksNow review by Danielle on 2007-08-28 12:55:45
This story starts out somewhat slowly....but if you can hang on till it gets interesting it's hard to stop listening. Setterfield paints some beautiful and terrible pictures for her reader/listener, and I enjoyed the twist at the end.
AudiobooksNow review by Sharon on 2008-04-12 09:14:45
A really good story, well written and an ending that brings it all together. I really enjoyed this book.
AudiobooksNow review by Morton on 2008-07-13 01:14:43
This is a gothic novel in the best sense a horrific tale told in mannered, finely wrought prose. It is among other things a paean to story telling wrapped in an ever surprising story. Anyonr who loves a good story should give it a try.
AudiobooksNow review by Tanisha on 2008-09-02 13:51:39
The story of Vida Winters reminded me of the earlier books by VC Andrews that I couldn't help but be drawn into this story. The ending was a surprise that wrapped up nicely.
