Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven: The Thirteenth Tale

After the rather gloomy The Magicians, I didn't know what to read next and solicited suggestions from my library co-workers.  I said I wanted something happy!  (Yes, I said it with an underline.)  Anyway, one of them came up with Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale, a novel I probably wouldn't have come upon otherwise (unless I was checking it in or out or reshelving it--I've found a few good books that way).  But I digress!  The Thirteenth Tale follows the stories of two women: a famous and very popular (fictitious) British author near the end of her life and the middle-aged woman she hires to write what will be the only true biography of the reclusive and mysterious author.  Much of the novel takes place at the remote country home of the author, Vida Winter, as she slowly unveils the true story of her childhood and adolescence to her would-be biographer, Margaret.  As Vida's tale unfolds, it intersects in interesting ways with Margaret's life story, shedding light on Margaret's past as well as Vida's.  An emotionally-focused, intriguing novel, it's not perhaps happy, but despite the pain in the story, there is also happiness, and (unlike The Magicians), it left me with a good feeling at the end, a quality I appreciate from a story.