The best sign of a five-star read is if it keeps me up long past my bedtime. And I think I might have a new favorite author, and her name is Diane Setterfield. Oh my goodness, this book. The more I read, the more I hone in on individual elements in books that I'm a sucker for every single time and this one had it all: Magic? Yes, sign me up. Storytelling and folk tale vibes? Absolutely, yes. Unique characters, atmospheric settings, historical elements, and whimsical feelings? Of course. Tributaries of storylines that eventually merge into one? Beautiful lines on every page that just speak to my soul? What else could this reader ask for?
I had half the book left to read last night, and a few hours past my bedtime, I just couldn’t stop. I was too sucked in, too invested in the characters’ lives and the life of the story itself. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep soundly if I didn’t get to the end.
Of course by the time I did get to the end, I was heartbroken over it. No, it didn’t end heartbreakingly because of tragedy, but it left me sad simply because it was over. It left me wanting to stop by the Swan Inn to hear stories told by “the regulars” there about times past and to maybe take a walk or two along a great river. It also left me Googling images by Henry William Taunt and getting lost in a real time long ago along the Thames.
Up to this point, The Thirteenth Tale has been on my shelf for years and remained untouched, I’m only somewhat sad to say. I’ve never been more excited to not have read it yet, since it means I finally have all the motivation in the world to move it to the tippy top of the TBR pile and read it next!
I had half the book left to read last night, and a few hours past my bedtime, I just couldn’t stop. I was too sucked in, too invested in the characters’ lives and the life of the story itself. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep soundly if I didn’t get to the end.
Of course by the time I did get to the end, I was heartbroken over it. No, it didn’t end heartbreakingly because of tragedy, but it left me sad simply because it was over. It left me wanting to stop by the Swan Inn to hear stories told by “the regulars” there about times past and to maybe take a walk or two along a great river. It also left me Googling images by Henry William Taunt and getting lost in a real time long ago along the Thames.
Up to this point, The Thirteenth Tale has been on my shelf for years and remained untouched, I’m only somewhat sad to say. I’ve never been more excited to not have read it yet, since it means I finally have all the motivation in the world to move it to the tippy top of the TBR pile and read it next!