British author becomes overnight millionaire as book hits top of US charts

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They say 13 is unlucky for some.

But for part-time teacher Diane Setterfield, struggling to make ends meet, it spelled the end of hard times.

Her debut novel The Thirteenth Tale - published on the 13th - has become an overnight success and made her a millionaire after sailing to the top of the American book charts.

Miss Setterfield, 42, who taught French privately until a month ago, has hit the number one slot in the New York Times bestseller list just a week after her book was published, knocking established authors like Frederick Forsyth, Jennifer Weiner and Nora Ephron off their perches.

The rights to the book were snapped up for £800,000 in the UK and more than £526,000 in the US and have been sold in 31 countries.

But rather than splashing out her newfound fortune, the unassuming former tutor said she would rather celebrate by curling up with a good book and a cup of tea.

Miss Setterfield, who lives with her accountant husband Peter Whittall, 41, and their four cats, said: "It has left my head spinning. In a way it has all happened rather faster than I would have liked.

"It has been like having a crash course in the world of publishing and has left me bemused. "I hoped I might have this kind of impact with my third or fourth book but never expected it from my first. It is a huge shock."

Miss Setterfield was teaching French part-time at Harrogate College near her home in Harrogate when she began harbouring secret hopes of writing a novel.

She quit her job six years ago to start tutoring part-time, giving her more time to write down her ideas.

But in frustration at her lack of progress, she shoved the notes to the back of a drawer and instead concentrated on household chores.

With a limited income, the couple had to scale back on their holidays to France and meals out while Miss Setterfield said she could only think wistfully of buying shoes and make-up.

It was only when she dug her notes out again and attended a creative writing course two years later that she began to write in earnest her Gothic mystery tale about a reclusive novelist who tells her life story to a biographer.

Five years after she embarked on her plan to write a novel, she sent sample chapters to four agents - and the rest is history.

Reading-born Miss Setterfield, who is now working on her second novel, said: "I thought of the idea and scribbled some notes down, which were then put in a drawer and stayed there for a very long time.

"We had to really cut back on luxuries during that time. I am a real foodie but could only dream of meals out. Luckily my husband was very supportive.

"When I finally took the notes out I wrote my first draft. After that things moved very quickly.

"If you ask anyone who has ever thought of writing a book how they feel about getting their work published, they will tell you that nothing could be more thrilling.

"Any serious writer would view it as an enormous privilege to be able to devote the best of their time to what they love and that is what I will now be able to do."

The budding author has already been compared to the likes of the Bronte sisters and Daphne du Maurier with her classical style. Sales in the US topped 20,000 in the first week but have yet to hit the same levels in the UK, where about 1,000 copies were selling weekly.

Miss Setterfield follows in the footsteps of Yorkshire author Joanne Harris, who worked as a French teacher before her bestselling novel Chocolat became a worldwide hit and was made into a Hollywood film starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.

 

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