The Thirteenth Tale

Vida Winter, one of England's most famous and reclusive novelists, has spent her life inventing fantastical histories for herself. Now, old and ailing, she is ready to tell the truth. She summons Margaret Lea, a young biographer with a quiet passion for books and a secret sorrow of her own, to her remote Yorkshire home to record her life story. Margaret is intrigued but skeptical, especially when she learns that Miss Winter's most famous collection of stories, "Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation," contains only twelve.

As Vida Winter unfolds her narrative, she transports Margaret back to the decaying Angelfield estate, a place haunted by the strange and savage history of twins Adeline and Emmeline March. Margaret is drawn deeper into a disturbing, gothic world of madness, forbidden love, and a devastating fire. The story begins to consume her, forcing her to confront the ghosts of her own past. What follows is a suspenseful journey to uncover the truth, a truth that has remained hidden for decades and lies at the heart of the missing thirteenth tale.