Karen’s Blog

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

A really cool novel, a well-done mystery, this not one of those formulaic who-done-its. The heart of the story is based around storytellers, writers and books, so it was easy to jump right it. The narrator, Margaret, is a single woman who lives above the London bookshop she and her father run. Their primary business is in antique or rare books, and she has grown up reading more than socializing. Her mother’s illness kept her from ever making many friends, and books have been her companions.

She is summoned to interview - and write a biography for - a popular, famous and famously reclusive novelist, one whose works she has never read. She is surprised to see books by Vida Winter on the shelves of the store, and her father owns one of the rarest copies, a set of 12 short stories that are labelled The Thirteen Tales. The book is rare because it was supposed to have been recalled and destroyed, with a “12 Tales” cover on it instead. Because of the popularity of Ms. Winter’s other books, endless speculation has gone on over the years as to what the 13th tale was meant to be. She has kept silent, until, facing the end of her life, she summons Margaret for her final story - her own.

As the tale unfolds, set early last century with murder, sex, insanity, unrequited love and incest at its heart, Margaret learns more than she thought she would both about the prickly, demanding and reclusive author, and herself. It’s really a fascinating story, and zips right along. And I didn’t even guess the mystery at the core of the piece until it was revealed, so that was a pleasant - though not cheerful - surprise.

I highly recommend it, it’s an unusual, dark little tale with a redemptive ending.

I pulled these two books out of a box on the same day, and because I didn’t post yesterday, figured I’d give you a two-for-one today. The books sound so similar by their titles, yet are very, very different.

How To Meet Cute Boys by Deanna Kizis

This one is exactly what it seems from the title. It is Chick-Lit in every sense. A fun little entirely predictable story, good for reading on a day when you don’t particularly want to think. The main character is, of course a single, thin, attractive young woman in a “fun” job - she’s an advice columnist for a “girls” magazine. So various excerpts of her “articles” and quizzes are included, all the sort of stuff no one over the age of 14 really takes seriously, you know the kind I mean. Not very deep, but at least it’s a quick read.

******

The Great Husband Hunt by Laurie Graham

So I figured from the title this would be another piece of chick-lit fluff. Don’t get me wrong, I am female, and some days enjoy a bit of fluff. This, however, was not that. This actually counts as a novel. Rather than being just a “girl meets boy, girl pursues boy, girl wins boy” that you might expect, this is a wide-ranging tale of a rather interesting, if not terribly likeable, woman, from girlhood through adult.

Poppy Minkel is a willful child growing up in a wealthy family in New York City, being carefully schooled to wear bands to flatten her ears, spend torturous times trying to tame her wild hair and do other thinks so that she will be able to catch a good husband. She doesn’t attend school, and while she does have an older, about-to-be married sister, Poppy’s world revolves around herself, and her own ideas. Her father is killed when the Titantic sinks, and Poppy’s carefully planned existence - a plan she never intended to follow anyway - is turned upside down a bit.

She goes merrily through life, marries whom she wants without a whole lot of thought, gets pregnancies “taken care of” with little care, and basically does what she wants when she wants, through two World Wars, a couple of husbands - one married then discarded, the second killed in a car accident, and gives birth to two daughters, whom she doesn’t seems to care an awful lot about either. She sends them off to her sister, then takes them back when other people assume she must be missing them. No surprise they grow up pretty miserable.

She lives an enviable sort of existence, I suppose, learning to fly a plane because it seems fun, travelling abroad, going to France, settling in England, tracing her connection to the British Royal family through her second husband, and basically having a good time. But all-in-all, she seems too completely self-absorbed for example even be aware that, because she is ethnically Jewish, though never bothered to learn or practice Judaism, her life is in danger as Germany invades France during World War Two. In that instance, and others, those around her are always more aware, and more careful, and keep her out of harm’s way, without her ever realizing that she was in danger, never mind expressing gratitude for their help. She just seems to live without a moral compass, or morals, and doesn;t even know she’s not normal.

A decent book, but I just didn’t like the main character, or even hate her. So read the book if you want, but it’s like coming away from a decent meal with a lingering unpleasant aftertaste … I can’t really recommend it.

I read all sorts of books - since I get to go to The BEA*, I pick up just about anything. And while I don’t specifically seek out good love stories, when I stumble across one and it is well-written, I do enjoy it!

Beginner’s Greek: A Novel by James Collins was one of those. It was just released last month - January ‘08 - in the real world. It is a lovely story about two impossibly good and nice people, who meet on a plane, fall in love, and then lose touch immediately afte - r for long enough for both to regretfully move on, marry others, and have lives. How they reconnect and what happens makes then seem much more real, and the ending is actually satifsying, which is a surprise. In between are many interwoven threads and characters, and even the “villians” aren’t entirely unlikable - it’s just a good, sweet story. Almost but not quite a fairytale for grown-ups. Why not quite? No fairy godmothers or socery involved, just people.

I recommend it - it will leave you smiling.

*Book Expo America