Helpful Score: 1
"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic."
Margaret Lea is a lonely young biographer plagued by the early death of her twin sister when she receives a letter from an extremely well-known author, Vida Winter. A dying Ms. Winter is finally willing to reveal the truth of her own life- a mystery about which she has, until now, refused to reveal to her fans- and she requests that Margaret write the biography. Margaret is intrigued by the author's childhood and finds herself swept up into the story of twin sisters, Adeline and Emmeline, while recalling with pain her own missed opportunity for a sisterly connection. Margaret's painful past without her twin and her strained relationship with her mother are brought to light as she listens, records, and searches for truth in the final, ultimate thirteenth tale by Vida Winter.
This beautifully told story weaves through the lives of two very different writers and pulls the reader into a web of lies, secrecy, betrayal, hauntings, devastation, and disaster. Diane Setterfield entwines her words to create a lovely story that is best described as deliciously intriguing. As I read this book, I found myself drawn into the language so much so that the words began to fall out of my mouth and I soon found myself reading aloud to an empty living room... for hours. I completely enjoyed this novel!
Margaret Lea is a lonely young biographer plagued by the early death of her twin sister when she receives a letter from an extremely well-known author, Vida Winter. A dying Ms. Winter is finally willing to reveal the truth of her own life- a mystery about which she has, until now, refused to reveal to her fans- and she requests that Margaret write the biography. Margaret is intrigued by the author's childhood and finds herself swept up into the story of twin sisters, Adeline and Emmeline, while recalling with pain her own missed opportunity for a sisterly connection. Margaret's painful past without her twin and her strained relationship with her mother are brought to light as she listens, records, and searches for truth in the final, ultimate thirteenth tale by Vida Winter.
This beautifully told story weaves through the lives of two very different writers and pulls the reader into a web of lies, secrecy, betrayal, hauntings, devastation, and disaster. Diane Setterfield entwines her words to create a lovely story that is best described as deliciously intriguing. As I read this book, I found myself drawn into the language so much so that the words began to fall out of my mouth and I soon found myself reading aloud to an empty living room... for hours. I completely enjoyed this novel!
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