RIP: The Thirteenth Tale

Title:  The Thirteenth Tale
Author:  Diane Setterfield
Publisher:  Atria
416 pages
ISBN:  978-0743298020
Source:  Personal Copy
Grade:  B-




A Reader's Respite has been saving this novel by Diane Setterfield for this Halloween season and we weren't disappointed.  A tad creepy, gothic mystery all wrapped up with literary references, it's a good choice for a Halloween read.

Famed and uber-mysterious author Vida Winter is dying.  After years of whimsically making up stories about her virtually unknown past, she's decided to set the record straight and recruits a very reluctant biographer, Margaret Lea, to take down the story.  Margaret begins to uncover all sorts of creepy things in Vida's past and a story within a story soon unfolds.

And what exactly is Vida Winter's story?

Abandoned English estates, obsession, madness, lost fortunes and lost loves is all we're going to tell you. Those who don't take well to wind-swept moors may find the melodrama a bit over the top but if you're a fan of creepy settings this one's for you. While it may not be the best literary fiction to hit the stands in decades, it's certainly a worthwhile get-in-the-mood-for-Halloween story.

Think gothic Rebecca with a bit of Flowers in the Attic creepiness and a dose of Jane Eyre thrown in for good measure and you'll have a pretty good feel for this novel.

 How it fared on A Reader's Respite's CREEP O' METER

Is it safe to come out?

A Reader's Respite has been in hiding for the past week or so.  With Book Blogger Appreciation Week inundating blog-world, we thought we'd do you the huge favor of not contributing to your over-flowing feed reader this past week.  So go ahead and appreciate that.  You're welcome.  (Do we get an award for that?)

It appears that a good time was had by all and since that is the entire purpose of BBAW, we can safely declare 2010 a success.  Congratulations to all the winners this year!

And if you subject yourself to the random and bitchy musings left on Facebook by A Reader's Respite, you'll know that there was another compelling reason for our absence.....

Yes, we decided to allow a mad scientist the opportunity to shoot laser beams directly into our eyeballs just for kicks and giggles.

Okay, so it wasn't a scientist, it was really a board-certified opthamologist and he wasn't really mad (just a tad cranky).  And it wasn't just any old laser beams, it was LASIK surgery.  And he transformed our vision from this:

into this:

Technically speaking, the mad opthamologist gave us 20/15 vision, but we won't quibble over details.  Anyhoo, we have needed this past week to recuperate from having our eyeballs lasered into.  Recovery has included no television (not a problem), no computer usage (tad bit of a problem), and no reading.  (GASP!)

So how did we spend our time (besides cheating on the computer thing here and there....shhh, don't tell my mad doctor)?

Audiobooks.  We knew we'd have to download about a bazillion of them in order to make it through.  We remembered a recommendation written a couple of weeks ago by Reader for Life which extolled the virtues of Danish author Christian Moerk's novel, Darling Jim, and this was #1 on our list.

Audiobooks are really, if the truth be known, two reviews rolled into one.  At one end of the spectrum is a review of the actual content of the book itself....plot, characterization, dialogue, etc.  At the other end is a review of the presentation, or the narrator. 

A Reader's Respite has always found it amusing that while a good novel cannot recover from a bad narrator, a bad novel can certainly be redeemed by a good narrator.  Darling Jim is blessed with both a good story with good narration. Two narrators, actually. 

Stephen Hoye, a prolific audiobook narrator whose credits include Flags of Our Fathers and The Book of Air and Shadows reads the main of the story here, in which an Irish postal worker accidentally discovers the diary of a notorious murderess who was later herself murdered under horrific circumstances.

Stephen Hoye, winner of 13 Earphones Awards and 2 Audie Awards

The narrator chosen to read the discovered diaries - for more are discovered throughout the novel - was Justine Eyre, who has lent her lilting voice to The Historian and most recently to Dracula, My Love.  Eyre won an Earphones Award (her second!) for her performance in Darling Jim.

Justine Eyre

A Reader's Respite thought Eyre's voice one of the most beautiful, enchanting ever piped over the airwaves, making us feel as if we were sitting in a small pub in Ireland, listening to a local tell us the story.  Hoye's narration was a tad more dramatic (you can go here to listen to a sample of his narration in Darling Jim), with a tendency to draw out the last syllable of each sentence, but compelling nonetheless. 

All nuances of narration aside, author Moerk is simply a damned good story teller.  This tale of gothic suspense, set in a small Irish town, requires the reader to suspend disbelief, as do all good yarns.  And an old-fashioned story is what this is, keeping you on the edge of your seat just dying (no pun intended) to find out what happens next. 

If you're looking for a good creepy gothic-ish tale complete with a handsome, dastardly stranger who mysteriously appears in town only to insidiously destroy an entire family, all wrapped up with a special twist, you'll likely enjoy reading (or listening) to Darling Jim this Halloween.


Title:  Darling Jim
Author:  Christian Moerk
Narrators:  Stephen Hoye and Justine Eyre
Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hours 31 Minutes
ISBN:  978-1400111985
Source:  Purchased from Audible
Grade:  A

A Worthy Collection for Your Permanent Library

One hears too much these days about the woes of publishing houses. Electronic media, slumping sales, and cutbacks are standard fare in today's publishing world. However, somewhere in the midst of all the publishing giants out there is an independent publisher that continues to impress the heck out of A Reader's Respite.

Their name is Sourcebooks.

Just why are they so impressive? In a world of rushing to publish the next DaVinci Code knock-off, Sourcebooks has been quietly acquiring the rights to reprint timeless stories that have withstood the test of time.

Among these classics are some of Daphne du Maurier books. When A Reader's Respite learned of Sourcebook's intent to re-release Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel, we practically swooned. We had worked long and hard to find copies of these books in years past, digging through musty bookstores (our favorite hobby) and combing estate sales (not a favorite hobby).

Thanks to Sourcebooks, though, readers can skip the rummaging through dead people's belongings and simply purchase a new reprint of these fabulous du Maurier books.

Not familiar with Daphne du Maurier? She's best known as the author of Rebecca, a novel which Alfred Hitchcock developed for the big screen and won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1940.



It won't surprise you to learn that despite it's well-deserved award for Best Picture, the movie pales in comparison to the book.

But du Maurier wrote many books just as good as Rebecca. Jamaica Inn was published two years prior to Rebecca and is a good example of her gothic historical fiction that sweeps you into the moors of Cornwall with a good old fashioned tale of pirates and smugglers. The reader is left wondering who to trust and the sheer creepiness of the tale is like a thick fog that surrounds you as you turn the pages. Not surprisingly, Hitchcock also adapted this book to film in 1939.


In 1941 du Maurier wrote Frenchman's Creek, the only romance she ever penned. A woman who longs for the freedom that her era doesn't allow women grabs it anyway and dashing pirates abound in this riveting love story. But as with all du Maurier's novels, there is an aura of unsettledness that permeates the atmosphere, setting it apart from other novels in the genre. This is a fabulous read for fans of romance or fans of gothic historical fiction and it is a tribute to the folks at Sourcebooks for choosing such a timeless classic to reprint today.

At this point, you probably won't be surprised to learn that Frenchman's Creek was also adapted into a movie in 1944, starring Joan Fontaine. American Movie Classics still occassionally airs this one, so keep your eyes peeled.

aren't you just loving these old film posters?

In 1951, du Maurier released My Cousin Rachel and this one is, thus far in our du Maurier reading journey, A Reader's Respite's favorite. Told from a male, first-person point of view, this is the tale of Rachel, a woman who mysteriously worms her way into men's hearts....right before they die, that is. Whether Rachel is what she seems is up to you, the reader, to decide. This is another Sourcebook's reprint and boy, are we thankful.



Of course, by this point du Maurier was so popular that there was no question that My Cousin Rachel would be adapted for the big screen. The year following the release of the novel, a film was produced starring Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton. As an interesting side note, du Maurier was reportedly less than thrilled with the casting of de Havilland in the role of Rachel. This film, too, shows up occassionally on AMC and is well worth a look (after you read the book, of course!).

Daphne du Maurier wrote quite a few more novels, several plays, and a plethora of short stories throughout her illustrious career, including The Glass Blowers, The House on the Strand, and The Birds (now I know you've heard of that one!). You can read a full bibliography here.

For fans of gothic or historical fiction, du Maurier's books are a must-read and worthy of a spot in your permanent collection.

And if we are really lucky, Sourcebooks will continue to reprint all of du Maurier's works.

Happy reading.

Review: Mistress of Mellyn

Mistress of Mellyn, by Victoria Holt









The Down and Dirty

Martha Leigh is our erstwhile heroine who, lacking a husband and in a bit of a financial quagmire, takes the obligatory governess job for the mysterious and wealthy Connan Tremellyn who lives on the great Mellyn estate conveniently located on the romantic moors in Cornwall. Of course, all is not what it seems when Miss Leigh arrives and in addition to caring for a motherless child, there are family secrets to be uncovered and danger lurking around every corner.

In short, we can summarize Mistress of Mellyn in this way:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

+

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (remember Manderlay?)

The Literary Criticism

Eleanor Hibbert, this time writing as Victoria Holt, turned out an especially good novel with Mistress of Mellyn. (For all you historical fiction fans, Eleanor also wrote under the pen name of Jean Plaidy.)

The story, as brilliantly illustrated by yours truly above, is a tasty combination of Jane Eyre and that classic gothic Du Maurier romance, Rebecca. So much so that the first half of the novel reads with a hovering sense of deja vu. And although the villainous culprit isn't too hard to identify (I had them pegged by Chapter Four), this doesn't detract from Holt's sense of good, old-fashioned storytelling.

This book is, without a doubt, what I like to call a comfort book. One that doesn't require fancy prose or literary dissection. Just grab a blanket, curl up by the fire, and enjoy the read.

Our Recommendation

Originally published in 1960, Mistress of Mellyn is still a staple of the Gothic Romance genre and a must-read, especially now that the novel is being re-issued by St. Martin's this month.

But be sure to get your hands on a copy before winter is over....this novel is especially satisfying with cold temperatures outside and a cozy fire inside.



By the by....if any of you crazy Brits out there know the correct pronunciation of Mellyn, please pass it along. I'm tired of the reading voice in my head pronouncing it "Mistress of Melon."

Makes me snicker every time.

And I'm relatively certain Ms. Holt did not intend this novel to be a comedy.

And many thanks to Amy at Passages to the Past who sent me this book for Christmas. (You rock!)


Title: Mistress of Mellyn
Author: Victoria Holt
ISBN-13: 978-0312384159
336 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's
Date: January 2008 (reissue)

Other Reviews in Blogland:

Genre Go Round Reviews
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
Romance Reviewed
A Book Blogger's Diary
For the Love of Reading