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| photo by Hayward Public Library |
Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale is a wonderful read. For the fans of Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte, this is a contemporary offering. The two main characters are Margaret Lea and Miss Vida Winter. Miss Winter has been a bestselling author for over 60 years. Every time an interviewer asked about her past, she lied. And every lie was wildly different.
Vida is finally ready to tell the truth about her childhood. And Margaret Lea, a fledgling writer, is the one chosen to chronicle it.
It's a twisted tale (aren't all gothic novels twisted?) and the reader is lured onto a particular path...you think you know what Vida Winter's "secret" is, but you don't--not until the very end is the veil lifted and the truth revealed.
Miss Winter claims, "All children mythologize their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get won't be the truth; it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story."
So what is the story behind your birth? Was there anything comic or noteworthy about your arrival? (Of course you are worth taking note of, but other than you, that is.)
You could even write two different versions and let us ponder their points as we try to ascertain which is the lie and which is the truth.
