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Thursday, August 6, 2026

'Words working their magic'

 

“There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic.” ― Diane Setterfield

 

Born in Great Britain in August of 1964, Setterfield started her career as a teacher before diving headfirst into writing with The Thirteenth Tale, a New York Times No. 1 best-seller translated into 40 languages.    The book, also made into a movie, has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

 

Since winning the 2007 Quill Award as Debut Author of the Year, she has authored several more bestsellers, including her latest The Right Sort of Man.   

 

Setterfield says she’s constantly oscillating between writing and putting herself inside the head of the reader, asking herself questions such as:  How effective is this to my reader? and Have I achieved what I set out to?  But reading, something she advises every author to do, is at the heart of her days.

 

“If I cannot escape for an hour or two every day by reading for pleasure,” she said, “then small problems seem to grow large, and I begin to feel enormously burdened.”

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