Once Upon a River

By Diane Setterfield

Book Overview

"Setterfield's prose feels lifted from another era, a gothic lyricism resembling old classics like Jane Eyre." --Entertainment Weekly

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Tale comes a "swift and entrancing, profound and beautiful" (Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe) novel about how we explain the world to ourselves, ourselves to others, and the meaning of our lives in a universe that remains impenetrably mysterious.

On a dark midwinter's night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.

Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.

Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son's secret liaison stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson's housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone's. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl's identity can be known.

Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, this is "a beguiling tale, full of twists and turns like the river at its heart, and just as rich and intriguing" (M.L. Stedman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074329808X
• ISBN13: 9780743298087
• Release Date: July 2019
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Loved this book!

Almost dreamlike in its style, each chapter introduces different characters in the story. The Thames River plays an integral part in the book and you almost feel like you’re coming up from underwater at the end, to have all of the stories revealed. I loved it! There’s heartache and struggles and mystery but nothing overly frightening or scary. Truly a beautifully told literary piece

Delightful and entrancing

Delicious, enthralling, magical, and lyrical. A modern Dickensian fable. Loved this book.

Love

Once Upon a River begins when a man comes into The Swan, the local inn, with a seemingly dead girl in his arms. When she comes back to life a while later, she sparks the interest of everyone in the village and tales begin to emerge. Three families have girls missing, and they all believe the mysterious girl is their daughter. Where did she come from and who does she belong to? Diane Setterfield is a magician with her words. The way she writes cause the reader to slow down and savor every sentence. It is impossible to rush through the book. Some readers may find this tedious, but I love the way she pulls you into the story. It moves much the way a river does, slow in some points, quickly in others, but always pure and consistent. There is a whole host of characters in this book, and Setterfield manages to write them in a way that kept me from getting confused about who was who. I felt like I really got to know these villagers and found myself connecting to each one of them. This book manages to be so many things at once but still be a cohesive whole. At times it was a fantasy, others history, but it was always true to itself.