The Thirteenth Tale

Hi all! Again, I am so sorry and so depressed over having missed the discussion (although I can blame nobody but myself).

I finished the book yesterday, and was wondering if you could humor me and continue your discussion on-line. Thanks! (I only e-mailed to those who were at the meeting, so don’t use this as the complete book club list)

Here are some of my points:

1. LOVED the book! I ended up reading all afternoon, because I couldn't put it down! I thought it was very well done.

2. I love how they used elements of storytelling to explain this story. I wish I would've marked all the beautiful quotes in this book, but I'll paraphrase some passages that spoke to me: Vida asks Margaret something about the feeling you get when you have just read one book and you start another- you're not finished thinking about the last book, and you start to confuse the two books (or something like that). I loved that quote! I can totally relate! Also, in the beginning, Vida talks to Margaret about storytelling, and how you have experiences that you throw in the compost heap and let the story take shape. I thought this was a beautiful description of how stories emerge. There is a lot of truth in fiction, but not in the way one thinks. Like Vida's story- it was all truth, but not in the way you think. I bet authors love that idea too, because one of the first things interviewers ask is "how much of this story is yours?" And, there’s another great quote in the very beginning about the purpose books have in our lives (Molly- you read it to me at the scrapbook retreat).

What are some passages you talked about at the meeting?

3. Here's one point I absolutely loved (especially after finding out that Vida killed Adeline/Emmeline to save Aurelius: When she asked Margaret if she would shoot the person who controls the lever in order to save her books from being destroyed. I knew this had to have some significance when I read it, but of course it really made sense when the "truth" came out in the end. And, when Margaret admitted to the reader that “of course I knew I loved books more than people,” it sort of gave me some understanding of why Vida did what she did. Of course, in the process of saving Aurelius, her books were destroyed, so what does that say? I don’t know- what DOES that say?

4. Vida's "subplot": Initially I groaned a little when I learned there were three girls. It was just too far-fetched for me, and it seemed to be just a convenient way to explain the mysteries of the house. But, at the end of the book, I realized that she handled it quite brilliantly. I think using the book/storytelling analogies really helped to keep it from becoming hokey.

5. Aurelius: This was an example of how I thought the author made the story too convenient (his family being right there all along). But, I really liked Auerlius! He was such a sweet man! And, I liked that he was the subplot in this book about subplots. He's a lot like Vida that way (the outsider).

6. Margaret's twin: Although I understand the need to introduce the twin connection in Margaret's character, I really didn't like how this story developed. Not being a twin, I guess I don't get the "connection," but I really felt this part was contrived and really whiny. And, would your whole life really be ruined because of this loss at birth? (she mentions many times that she can’t really live- why not? Isn’t this a little like making a mountain out of a mole hill?) I would like input from real people who lost their twin at birth and find out if there really is that feeling of something missing. Maybe I would understand this story better if I had that perspective.

7. Margaret’s mother- I wish she would’ve spent more time developing this relationship. In fact, I wish she would’ve focused on what’s missing in this mother/daughter relationship because of the loss of a child instead of what’s missing in Margaret’s life because of the loss of her twin. And, I LOVED how her father stepped up and took over the role of loving parent. It was such a nice juxtaposition with John the Dig and how he stepped up to take over the management of the house when Missus started going crazy.

7. Hester: Did NOT like how this story ended up. SO contrived. I wish she would’ve kept Hester’s disappearance a mystery (but, I suppose mysteries have to be solved eventually).

8. Now, for the part I have real questions about:
· Vida locking one of the twins in the library during the fire: Why were the remains intact after so many years? If they put the fire out and went in to assess the damage, wouldn’t they have found the body? If Aurelius visited the place so much, wouldn’t HE have found something? If they let the fire burn, wouldn’t the body have been cremated? And, when I read that they found the remins, I was under the impression that the body had been buried. So, unless someone went up there after the fire and buried the body, this seems inconsistent. Or, maybe I read it wrong. But, if the body hadn’t been buried, then why did the other twin dig so much? (I took her digging to be that she was looking for her twin).
· Who really whacked the doctor’s wife with the violin? Margaret claims that she knows at the end, but she offers no explanation. Of course, it’s tied to the revelation that there were three girls. But, the girls at that time were children, so it couldn’t have been one of them. I got the feeling that Isabelle was blamed for it but didn’t really do it (she was wearing yellow, which could be mistaken for white). One theory that I have is that it was Vida’s mother, who was living like a ghost in the same way Vida lived, but Vida said at the end of her story that her mother left her at the mansion, so it couldn’t have been her. So, who was it? I think I missed something here.
· Vida’s mother- was she the ghost that Margaret kept sensing at the mansion? Or, was it Adeline/Emmeline (whichever one died)? Or, was it part of the ridiculous story of her twin? I liked the mystery of this ghost, but I think by now, there are too many “fake” ghosts and this part of the book sort of got neglected.