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The Thirteenth Tale
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato, Jill Tanner
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
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, 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.
Critic reviews
- Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2007
"Bianca Amato is stunning as Margaret....[her] respect for the power of story and the written word is heard in every utterance. Jill Tanner accomplishes a tour de force as the enigmatic and mysterious Vida. In conversation her voice has the hesitancy and fragility of an elderly woman, but her voice takes on the strength and power of a master storyteller as she weaves her spellbinding life story." (AudioFile)
"Readers will be mesmerized by this story-within-a-story tinged with the eeriness of Rebecca and the willfulness of Jane Eyre. The author skillfully keeps the plot moving by unfurling a new twist in each chapter and leaves no strand untucked at the surprising and satisfying conclusion. A wholly original work told in the vein of all the best gothic classics. Lovers of books about book lovers will be enthralled." (Booklist)
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Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
By: Hilary Mantel
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Ember Island
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A compelling tale of two women separated by a century who discover long-buried secrets in an Australian manor house. In 1891, Tilly Kirkland is reeling with shock and guilt after her tempestuous marriage ends in horrific circumstances. Fleeing to the farthest place she knows, Tilly takes a job on Ember Island in Moreton Bay, Australia, where she becomes the governess to the prison superintendent's precocious young daughter, Nell.
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Not her best book
- By Beth on 05-02-18
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Lost Among the Living
- By: Simone St. James
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex's wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to Wych Elm House, the family's estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband's origins...and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths' past is just the beginning.
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Interesting Story
- By Isobel on 05-07-16
By: Simone St. James
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Silver Wattle
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adéla and Klára must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. Later, Adéla becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood. But even while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away.
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Groan, Snore and Wince!
- By OrangeWisteria on 02-12-12
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Evergreen Falls
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction and a place where two women's lives are changed forever. 1926: Violet Armstrong is one of the few remaining members of staff working at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel as it closes down over winter. Only a handful of guests are left, including the heir to a rich grazing family, his sister and her suave suitor. When a snowstorm moves in, the hotel is cut off and they are all trapped. No-one could have predicted what would unfold.
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Soooo Boring
- By Merford on 10-09-19
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A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
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series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
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Secrets of a Charmed Life
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden--one that will test her convictions and her heart.
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Rare 5-Star Across the Board!
- By Imamomof4 on 06-14-15
By: Susan Meissner
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A Great Deliverance
- Inspector Lynley, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth George
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an ax in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry".
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good debut novel
- By Stevon on 11-11-19
By: Elizabeth George
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The Lost Hours
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Beth Devries
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Piper Mills was 12, she helped her grandfather bury a box that belonged to her grandmother in the backyard. For 12 years, it remained untouched. Now a near-fatal accident has shattered Piper's dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather's death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn't exist - or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard.
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A historical mystery, fun characters - diverting
- By V. Stone on 05-25-12
By: Karen White
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Sea Change
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Kate Forbes, Peggity Price
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Karen White' s New York Times best-selling novels keep audiences up well into the night with their compelling plots and engaging characters. Sea Change is a riveting tale of second chances, forgiveness, and leaps of faith. Plagued by feelings of loneliness and not belonging, 35-year-old Ava Whalen is as shocked as anyone when she falls for child psychologist Matthew Frazier, elopes with him, and settles down on St. Simons Island, Georgia. But her newfound happiness is threatened when her past proves difficult to escape.
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Slow moving
- By Mon on 11-21-12
By: Karen White
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Loved the compelling audiobook version!
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Good but not like her other novels
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Aaliya Saleh lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's "unnecessary appendage." Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The 37 books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read by anyone. In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, listeners follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut.
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Tales of a Literary Snob
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What listeners say about The Thirteenth Tale
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- JE
- 01-28-10
Simply Amazing Story--2 missing chapters
This story is absolutely amazing. It is captivating and enthralling. However, the unabridged Audible copy of this story is missing two chapters near the end of the second file (as the story is so long that it requires two files). As it is, KEY story ending information is left out. Audible has been informed of this problem and I assume it will be corrected at some time.
Ultimately this is not a story to be missed. However, if you are looking for an unabridged copy of the book, this is not currently it.
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292 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Cathleen
- 10-05-06
Once you finish it, you'll listen again!
I have never been a fan of gothic novels...and after listening to this for about 15 minutes, I wondered why I had gone against my intial instincts, and purchased this book . If I had actually been reading this,(instead of listening) at this point it would have been tossed! What a tragedy that would have been! For I would have missed the chance to be transported into Vida Winter's world. Like Margaret, for me the story took over, and I found my self unable to stop listening. Margaret herself grabbed hold of me, for I, too, understood her love of stories. When I finished it, I knew I had to hear it again, because now that I knew the story, I wanted to listen to the words and visualize the beautiful imagery that Ms. Setterfield created.(and besides I wasn't quite ready to let these characters go...)
Barnes and Noble has created the word, "unputdownable" for this new book club they have created. I heartily concur! This particular delicacy is meant to be savored. Enjoy...
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169 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jolie
- 06-18-08
A return to the moors...
Perhaps you went through a British lit phase like I once did, where you read all things Bronte, Dickens, and Austen. The Thirteenth Tale is a marvelous return to the Bronte-type books, with vast estates on the moors complete with twisted passages, secrets , and ghosts. It is the life story of Vida Winter, England's most famous living author, at the end of her life--and it is the first time she's told this version (the truth) to anyone. It is told to Margaret Lea, whose own life is twisted in on itself because of a secret she discovered as a child, and it is large, and complex, and wonderfully gothic. The narrators do a terrific job of creating these two women's voices and characters, and give a beautifully nuanced reading.
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91 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jacob
- 12-12-08
Unique, highest quality writing, excellent read.
I tend to get overwhelmed picking new authors and books, so many times I get a book based on the customer reviews. This was one such purchase. I got way more than my money's worth in this wonderfully complex tale. It does start out slow--but the wait is worth it. I am usually good at picking out the end of a book, but this one keep me on the edge of my seat, listening for hours and hours at a time so I could find out how the mysteries unfolded. In a world where NOT well-written, fluffy serial books are being acclaimed, I am not sure everyone will find this story's dark tale as easy of a read. It is more complex that the normal fluff that I have read lately, and for that I am grateful! This story, rich in detail and emotion, has deep secrets it will not give out easily. It is a journey the reader is taken on, and the journey is not neatly packaged in a Hollywood blockbuster style. The story is layered and revealed thus. Beautifully written, perfectly narrated, and completely original, this book is well worth the time and money.
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81 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Christina
- 04-25-10
Combination mind-numbing and truly great
I can't figure out how the first hour of material of this novel got past an editor. It was tortuously slow, and I quit listening after four different attempts over several months. The first narrator may have contributed to this, with her very slow speech. Finally, stuck in a car for many hours, I gave it another try. After more than an hour, this story became mesmerizing. The first part could have been well-written as a short first chapter, and the book would have kept all its integrity, and more people would have kept reading it instead of giving up. If readers are so bored they can't continue - it seems like a serious flaw in a novel, no matter what the author or editor thought they were 'setting up'. First hour plus is a '1' and the after that is even more than a '5'.
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71 people found this helpful
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Overall
- rvwilder
- 09-19-06
Haunting and beautiful tale
This debut novel is a skillfully written and artfully narrated piece of fiction--what I would rate as true literature--that is well worth a listen or a read. The plot is so well crafted that you are carefully drawn into the story as it slowly yet enjoyably unfolds. I was a little skeptical at first, seeing that the publisher is really pushing this novel, but I would recommend it to those who appreciate an original and satisfying book.
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70 people found this helpful
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- Me101
- 09-10-09
Painfully slow for me
I'm a very patient listener, but I found this story to be painfully slow from start to finish. I finished it, but it took a fair amount of effort on my part to keep myself focused on the story as it progressed.
I'm actually fairly confused as to why there are so many 'rave' reviews on this book and so many other reviews that seem to reflect my feelings that it was was very hard to enjoy. I guess I'll chalk it up to a person's individual taste. My recommendation is that if you are a reader that likes books with a fair amount of action involved with the main characters, then this novel may not be for you.
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51 people found this helpful
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- Jacqueline
- 10-05-13
Do You Believe in Ghosts?
This stunning debut by Diane Setterfield held me bound to the story for hours on end, taking breaks now and then to think about it and savor what had been said, and anticipate what was about to come.
Margaret Lea is the somewhat lonely, solitary daughter on an antiquarian bookseller. She has lived her life surrounded by the wonderful books in her father's store, her job being to keep the thousand's of volumes dusted and orderly, and take care of things when her father is gone to one book fair or another as he searches out worthy additions to the shop. She, too, became a lover of books, eventually becoming a writer of biographies.
Britain's most famous author, Vida Winter (what a great name) seeks out Ms. Lea, as she is dying and wants to tell her story to just the right biographer. Margaret thinks of herself as a "talented amateur" when it comes to her writing, and wonders why this famous author is seeking her out for this astonishing challenge. Vida Winter has something in common with this biographer as it turns out, and this secret along with many other's is woven into the tale with the skill of someone who had been writing books for decades.
I won't go into the specific story details, as the author's summary and other reviews have done that--but I do want to say that the fantastic narration by Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner makes this book so delicious to hear. I think without a doubt, the audio version increases the enjoyment of this story ten fold.
NOTE: For those who have been waiting for the next treasure by Ms. Setterfield, Audible has her next book, "Bellman & Black," listed as a new release coming out next month. I can't wait. Seven years between publications--this author is not one to churn out a book every year as some do, and I hope it will be as enchanting as this one.
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- Melinda
- 04-04-09
Behind Green Eyes
Margaret Lea is plucked from obscurity to be the biographer of the most famous author in England~Vida Winter~ months before Winters croaks. Sutterfield doesn't convincingly establish Vida Winter as the greatest living author in my mind. And even though we learn EVERYTHING about her life (she even has memories of her mother's birth) we do not learn where she gets her ability to create award winning fiction and the adoration of millions of readers who breathlessly await her next novel like I suppose people awaited Daphne du Maurier's next novel 80 years ago.
My main issue with this novel is that is is filed under Historical Fiction when it really should be considered to be a romance/mystery. The book combines Jane Eyre , Wuthering Heights & The Woman in White into a single tome, but ultimately fails as TRUE historical fiction. If one is a fan of romance (I am not) then I suppose it is a fascinating tale of incest, crumbling, gothic mansions replete with gardens, rich, dysfunctional family their ghosts and their servants, English moors and rain. I don't have anything against this book, it's just mislabeled. It's an average romance masquerading as an important work of fiction. The Thirteenth Tale reminds of the above mentioned books, but all mushed together, instead of following one, elegant storyline.
If you like this genre of books, then I think you will be quite pleased. It's lurid, voyeuristic and fantastical, and it doesn't lag. It is serviceably performed, not outstanding. But reviewers need to understand their genres. When I think of historical fiction, the setting is firmly fixed behind true events. This book does not establish its self as true historical fiction. It's Romance/Mystery and nothing more.
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- MJ
- 05-25-13
The Book That Never Ends
I really wanted to like this book and I know I'm going to get a lot of "unhelpful" votes for this review. Please know that it isn't all bad. The story did have some good points. Ms. Setterfield writes wonderfully descriptive passages and her style is lovely in places, but she uses a lot of odd similes ("the words flew out of my mouth like a bird hitting a window"). Huh???
The first half of the book was good. I was very interested in the story and engaged with the characters (however unlikeable they were), but sometime after the break between sections, I stopped caring about what was happening. The book became tedious. I got fed up when I had to listen to a portion of the twins' story re-told through Hester's diary entries. No doubt they contained important information that the author wanted to convey, but by that time I'd had enough. Where was the editor?! I was constantly checking to see how much time was left, which is never a good sign.
A number of reviewers have referred to "the twist" and how they thought it was excellent. Well, I was disappointed in it. I thought, "is this _really_ where she's going with the story?" Since I hate spoilers, I'll say no more about that. I will say though that there's only so much self-pity that a reader can tolerate. I'd be interested in hearing a real-life twin's opinion. Not being a twin myself, perhaps I can't relate, but Margaret seems overly attached to (no pun intended), and longing to be reunited with, a twin sister she's never even met. Obsessed is probably a better word because she sees and hears her sister everywhere. Strange.
A word about the narrators: I can't figure out why there was a need for two. I understand what the director was trying to accomplish, but the book isn't written in a way that's conducive to using two different voices. There are too many places in the narrative where the characters' stories overlap and the narrator who is portraying Vida ends up reading a passage written from Margaret's point of view, and vice versa. It could be confusing if the listener isn't rapt (which admittedly, I was not). Also, I have listened to several books narrated by one of these ladies and, once again, she does a fine job here; however, I had forgotten the promise I made to myself that I would never listen to another audiobook narrated by the other reader. She is not native to England and the way she pronounces certain words is irritating, like nails on a chalkboard, to me. I mean no disrespect. It's just a pet peeve that I wish I could get over.
I'm sorry to be so critical. If you loved this book, I'm happy you found enjoyment where I could not. If you did not like it, I encourage you to write a review and tell us why not. Books, like any art-form, are subjective. What one person finds merit in, another thinks is rubbish. Such is life.
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35 people found this helpful