Diana Setterfild

Diane Setterfield (English: Diane Setterfield; born August 22, 1964) is an English writer and a representative of the Gothic tradition. Her debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, became a New York Times No. 1 bestseller — an example of a remarkable rise that European literature had not seen for several decades. As a result of a fierce publishing auction, the rights to Setterfield’s first novel were bought for unprecedented sums for a debut author: an advance of £800,000 for the British edition and $1 million for the American edition. Before beginning her writing career, Diane Setterfield taught French literature at the University of Bristol. She now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and four cats, and is working on her second novel.

Diane Setterfield, like any true woman, does not like to talk about her age. It is known that she is about forty. However, she has the right to privacy not only as a woman, but also as the author of the most famous “Gothic novel” of our time. Judging by the enthusiastic reviews from critics, she has succeeded in restoring this genre to its former glory, somewhat dimmed since the days of Daphne du Maurier. What else is known about her? Diane was the eldest of three sisters... but do not rush to look for parallels with the plot of the novel. In one interview, the writer said that she would hate anyone who dared to draw such an analogy. However, according to her, one of her sisters, after reading the novel, felt it necessary to apologize for having hit her on the head with a tape recorder when she was six years old. Diane’s favorite book since childhood has been Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre — that is why we encounter it in the description of every key event in The Thirteenth Tale. But, according to the author, the story of the governess who married her master did not affect her very deeply. In her heart, little Jane remained forever — an abandoned, unwanted child who finds friendship only to lose it soon after... Reading remains her main passion to this day, and it sometimes even frightens Diane. She even wonders whether an addiction to reading is akin to alcohol and drug dependence? However, this addiction did not prevent Diane from building an academic career, specializing in