the thirteenth tale
i read the most wonderful book over the break that is the perfect blend of the paternity issues and writing technologies that we discussed in class! its called the Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sutterfield published by Washington Square Press. ere’s a little overview: a young writer named margaret lea is asked by a famous author to do a biography about her because she is about to die. the author, vida winter, has never told the truth about her past to anyone… her “about the author” sections of her books are all completely different and complete lies. she finally wants to tell the truth. so… the entire book is focused on vida winter telling margaret her life story. i don’t want to say much more because i don’t want to spoil it, but its very much a gothic tale… it reminded me a lot of jane eyre but without the love story. its a huge web of incest, questions of both paternity AND maternity, pencils (which are strangely fetishized), and mystery, all of which combine to further what we talked about all semester. apart from all those things, its still a really great book that you won’t be able to put down. best book i’ve read in a long time…and that says a lot! so go read it!
jenna ward