The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Terrible, terrible, terrible. I was sooo disappointed. So many different sources of inspiration were provided to me prior to reading this book and I was so let down. And it wasn't just that my expectations had been built up too much (you know how that is so often inevitable) - no, the book was crap.

I can hear people gasp, shake their head, turn away, log out - but yes, this is how I feel. It was boring, unbelievable and such an anitclimax. Setterfield's writing is enjoyable - tight and flowing, but the characters were utterlyn two dimensional and the storyline completely unbelievable. Not that I'm saying this is a necessary ingredient for a good read, not at all. But the novel doesn't pretend to be fantasy or science fiction. The story failed to capture my interest at any stage.

I don't know if the story is meant to be 'timeless' or if the author failed to create a sense of time or atmosphere. I wanted to know so much about the main character's life, what she ate, wore, even read. She was a book lover who seemed to appreciate nothing about a good story. Her father was bland and borderless and Ms Winter's character was a complete cliche (actually, cliched characters, houses and story lines riddled this book).

No, I was very disappointed and I know that all the other members of my club feel the same. It's so interesting how people's tastes vary. As I said earlier, people raved about this book. I have no interest whatsoever to anticipate Setterfield's next book. What a bore!!!