The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield was published in 2013 and I can’t think how I missed it back then when it became a bestseller. It’s been made into a movie starring Olivia Coleman and Vanessa Redgrave.
Margaret is a young woman with a tragedy in her distant past, having lost her twin sister at birth. She works with her father in an antiquarian bookshop and one day receives a letter from a famous but difficult author called Vida Winter. Among her many bestsellers, Vida once wrote a book of stories called ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ but, oddly, she only included twelve. Where and what was the thirteenth tale? Having lived as a virtual recluse all her life, she is now very ill and has decided to tell it to someone she can trust. She sends for Margaret, a complete stranger, to write it for her, who ends up having to do a lot of sleuthing of her own to discover what really happened.
There is another set of twins in the past, who are allowed to run completely wild, and a big twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. It’s a gripping page-turner and you might like it if you enjoy gothic stories about old houses.