There has always been questions on how a cover of a book might influence the buyer/reader. It has been debated many times and it always results in a resounding YES, the cover is a big draw on a book. A bad cover will have a book wither away on the shelf but a good cover will have the book flying out the door.
I absolutely feel in love with the cover of this book. I had no idea what the book was about but I saw the cover and knew I had to read it. For the longest time I thought this was a romance (never opened the book to read the jacket insert). I finally got over the cover and opened the book to read what the book was about and felt myself get disappointed.
With a cover that beautiful, why was the book not about love?
This book was definitely about love but a whole different type of love and I just had to read the darn thing to find that out.
The book is about the famous author, Vida Winters who is very ill and in her last days decides that her biography should be told. She had related her biography before but, as a storyteller, she would yield a new story about her life every time, swearing that the new version was the truth. Now she decides that the truth must be told but it's easier said than done. How does a storyteller step out of herself and deal with facts vs fiction when the fact is that her whole life has been fictionalized.
Margaret Lea, a young novice in the writing community is called upon to write the biography. But part of the challenge for Margaret is to decipher the true story out of the facts that Vida Winter gives her.
The love story is about the love of sisters, the love of family and the extent you go to in protecting those you love. This is reflected not just in the life of Vida Winters but also in Margaret who's own story needs to be told.
This is a ghost story, a story of identities lost and then found, a story of lies that were forced into truths.
Diane Setterfield's debut novel is not to be missed. The book reads like a fairytale and every glimpse we are given into Vida Winter's past is a story on it's own.
Don't miss this one. It's definitely one of my best reads of this year.
Grade:A+
Format: Audiobook
2 comments:
I loved this book when I read it a couple of years ago. So moody and atmospheric!
This book started slow for me but I ended up being drawn into the atmosphere and LOVED the story. Nice review!
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