從小在父親的古舊書店幫忙的姑娘瑪格麗特，個性內向，愛好讀經典小說和傳記。

一天，她突然收到著名女作家維達·溫特的來信。溫特性格古怪，神秘低調，常常編造自己的各種離奇故事糊弄記者，但誰也不知道她的真正來歷。但是她居然寫信邀請默默無聞的瑪格麗特來為她寫傳。

好奇心驅使同樣深居簡出的瑪格麗特來到荒涼偏僻的溫特家。如溫特所述，她的母親伊莎貝拉從小深得家人寵愛，美麗、任性，她長大后生下的一對雙胞胎女兒行為怪異。雙胞胎日漸長大，越來越多匪夷所思的事情在這個怪誕的家中發生。

有人看見了鬼!瑪格麗特對女作家的故事既着迷，又困惑。半信半疑中，她開始調查這個家族，依照自己的調查結果將溫特講述的家族故事拼接起來。然而，尋找真相的過程令人膽戰心驚，也徹底改變了瑪格麗特自己的命運……


All children mythologize their birth. . . . So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's beloved collection of stories, long famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale. The enigmatic Winter has always kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she summons a biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life: Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth remains an ever-present pain.

Disinterring the life she meant to bury for good, Vida mesmerizes Margaret with the power of her storytelling. Hers is a tale of gothic strangeness, featuring the Angelfield family -- including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, and the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline -- a ghost, a governess, and a devastating fire. Struck by a curious parallel between their stories, Margaret demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them.

The Thirteenth Tale is a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter, and in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.