The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield

One book that I can read again and again is The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. It is a kind of tale within a tale that has me stumped as to how the author surprised me with her ending. Even as I reread the story every five years or so, watching for the cues I missed the first time, she has woven everything together so seamlessly . . . she gets me every time, even though I know what’s coming!

The story is about a reclusive author, Vida, who is famous for a collection of twelve stories. Having spent six decades writing a series of alternate lives for herself, she is finally ready to reveal the truth about her tragic past and asks a young biographer, Margaret (with her own painful past), to write this thirteenth tale. Margaret is entranced by Vida’s story of willful Isabelle, feral twins, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden, and a devastating fire.