Hachette Livre

Hachette Reading Group Guides

Welcome to our Reading Group guide for The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. We invite you to consider and discuss the following questions when reading this book:

  1. ‘Reading can be dangerous.’ Once Margaret is caught by Vida Winter’s letter, how is reading dangerous for her?
  2. When do you think this novel is set? Is it entirely contemporary, or of the recent past? Or even older? Are there clues to guide us, or is it entirely timeless?
  3. ‘Though my appetite for food grew frail, my hunger for books was constant.’ What do you think that Margaret finds in books that she cannot find in food?
  4. ‘Every Happy Ever After was tainted. Fate, at first so amenable, so reasonable, so open to negotiation, ends up by exacting a cruel revenge for happiness.’ Is this true of the characters in The Thirteenth Tale? Is anyone happy?
  5. ‘I prefer proper endings.’ Do you? Or would you rather have some things left to your imagination?
  6. Tales of Change and Desperation, Betwixt and Between, Twice is Forever, Hauntings, Out of the Arc, Rules of Affliction, The Birthday Girl, The Puppet Show. What do the titles of Vida Winter’s novels tell us about Vida Winter?
  7. ‘Standing there in my coat in the hallway I experienced for the first time the most profound oddity of the place. Miss Winter’s house was entirely silent.’ What is the significance of the absolute quiet?
  8. When Margaret moves into her room in Vida Winter’s house, almost the first thing she does is take down the curtains. Why does she do this, do you think?
  9. ‘Remember, this person burns books. Does he really deserve to live?’ Which book on the brink would have you pulling the trigger?
  10. The story of the Angelfield family is one of generation after generation of tragedy. Do you believe in tragic fate? Are some families simply doomed?

Current Reading Group Titles

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  3. The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin
  4. Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
  5. The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
  6. Testimony by Anita Shreve
  7. Home by Marilynne Robinson
  8. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
  9. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  10. Remembering The Bones by Frances Itani
  11. The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
  12. Lies by Enrique de Heriz
  13. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner
  14. Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt
  15. Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  16. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  17. The Sisterhood by Emily Barr
  18. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  19. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie
  20. The Return by Victoria Hislop
  21. A Small Part of History by Peggy Elliott
  22. A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley
  23. Scapegallows by Carol Birch
  24. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
  25. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
  26. Radiance by Shaena Lambert
  27. Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon
  28. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
  29. Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott
  30. The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
  31. Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
  32. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
  33. The Keep by Jennifer Egan
  34. The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
  35. Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
  36. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
  37. April in Paris by Michael Wallner
  38. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
  39. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
  40. Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
  41. Red River by Lalita Tademy
  42. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
  43. Rosetta by Barbara Ewing
  44. The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin
  45. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
  46. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell