Whenever anyone ask for a book rec I start with The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I read it when it first came out in 2006. I think it was a B&N highlighted book of some sort.

It didn’t take much to sell me on the story. A reclusive author has a mysterious thirteenth tale never written. She hires a biographer, a young woman with her own family secrets, to witness her final tale.

The story is written out of time. There are no cell phones, even for 2006. The world exists but not in detail. At that matters are the characters and their immediate surroundings.

It is a Gothic tale in the best ways. Secrets, ghosts, a governess, a fire! All the hits!

Take a chance on a backlist book. Trust me, you’ll love it.