This month’s book club was held in Yerseke.
After my last visit to this delightful yet un-navigable village, and this time sans co-passenger to act as pilot I set off in plenty of time. Needn’t have worried, Yerseke had smoothed out its road-works and I reached my destination with no hiccups.
We’d all had the chance to read The Thirteenth Tale during our summer holidays, which seemed strangely distant on this cool rainy night.
The book was chosen by our hostess for its cover (why not?) which was, in both versions to appear at the meeting, very appealing. One cover has the lower half of a female twin, the other, a profusion of books.
We all agreed that after a slightly slow start, the book was easy to get into and we all read it fairly quickly.
It’s a reader’s book, there are many references to other books, classic tales, essays, esoteric oddities and libraries all feature. We enjoyed the main character’s journey of discovery, thought the ending was rather hurried but that the middle section was sumptuous. The dialogue at the beginning, written in the third person, gives a hint of a twist to come. We had to reread parts.
Questions:
1. Did you like Margaret Lee?
Not really. We all agreed that she was a rather colourless stereotypical spinster, but our perception of her age varied and ranged from between 20 to50. We concluded that we had all probably judged her on ourselves.
2. When was the story set?
Again, differing views.
We thought anywhere from the late 20th century to the early1960’s.
The main character, our spinster, was free to travel un-escorted and on public transport so we can safely assume that it was set after WW1. The builders were wearing safety helmets, which suggests that it was set after the first half of the century.
3. After Mr. Dunn and John the Dig said that Adeline had emerged from the mist, do you think she had grown up?
We had our suspicions, was it possible for her to have changed so quickly?
There is a stress reflex which can change you to enable you to function under extreme pressure.
4. When did you discover Vida West’s true identity?
We suspected that there was another girl but not until quite late on. When Vida West started using the first person to relate her tale, we all realized that this precipitated the twist. On reflection there were also a plethora of clues to lead you to the right conclusion before her revelation.
5. Who do you think survived the fire, Adeline or Emeline?
We were again split on this. Ambrose had been invited to meet his mother (Emeline) but by then she was already dying so had it been Adeline he would not have known by her aggressive behaviour as the near prospect of death would have severely weakened her. If it was Emeline, why had Vida lodged her in separate accommodation rather than letting her share her house?
It was an enjoyable book, and a good read.
We gave it 4+/5
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Feeling slightly spooked after our meeting where the talk had turned to the supernatural, but smugly confident after my smooth journey to Yerseke, I set off for Middelburg in the dark and pouring rain, only to discover the motorway closed at both Yerseke and then, after a meandering tour round the back lanes of Kapelle, at Goes. Cheers Provincie Zeeland
If you have read the book and would like to express your opinions on any of the above points, or any other aspect of the book, please post your comments below.
We’d love to hear from you.
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