An amazing feat of story telling. Weaving various characters around a touch of history, fiction and fantasy, and centered around an establishment known as the Swan Inn. The river is used as a locator as well as a metaphor throughout the journey as we seek to understand who the characters are, how they are related, and what happened to the girl found dead in the river. Different for Setterfield is the insertion of magical fantasy alongside her sweeping mystery. The story unfolds slowly and finishes in similar fashion. Don't look for charged scenes, intense emotion or riveting action in this work. It caresses the mind.

As soon as Once Upon a River begins, the reader knows she is in the hands of a consummate story teller. The novel flows like the river in the title. Set in a pub in a village where the residents are known for their story telling, the book captivates the reader with the characters and the tale. This is a book not to be missed!

Once upon a time. . . Those are storytelling's magic words. And when novelist Diane Setterfield drops them in the Thames, than you get Once Upon a River (Atria, digital galley), and it's magic, too.  On a midwinter night at the Swan Inn, the storytellers are surprised when a battered stranger bursts through the door holding the drowned body of a little girl. But a sad scene turns wondrous when the child lives, although she cannot speak her name. As news of this miracle spreads, several people arrive at the inn to claim her as their own. Lily White, the parson's odd housekeeper, declares she is her little sister Ann. Farmer Robert Armstrong thinks she is his grandchild Alice, daughter of his runaway son. And Helena and Anthony Vaughan hope she is their kidnapped child Amelia. Setterfield, who vaulted to fame a decade ago with The Thirteenth Tale, again casts a spell as her stories spill and overlap, flowing like the river that connects them. There are twists and turns, swirls and eddies, unexpected depths and a ghostly ferryman known as Quietly. Don't miss the boat.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

Author blends fairy tales, lore, science in magical 'Once Upon a River'
By SANDY MAHAFFEY FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR

Diane Setterfield’s “Once Upon A River” is storytelling at its very best. She has woven a masterful tapestry with many threads of fairy tales, myths, folklore and even some science. I was mesmerized from the first page to the last.

It all begins on a dark winter’s night in 1887, in the Swan, an ancient inn on the river Thames, where the regular customers have gathered to enjoy the competing storytellers from the surrounding villages.

The stories stop abruptly when a seriously injured stranger wanders in carrying what seems to be a puppet or doll, but is found to be a child who appears to all to be dead. When she mysteriously takes a breath, several of the village people want to claim her as their own.
Setterfield’s tale, just like the mighty river, is swept away with currents and storms, taking the reader with it to worlds imaginary and real, exploring every nook and cranny and experiencing many twists and turns.
Her prose is wondrous, immersing her reader in the mysterious world she has created, one populated with both the best and worst of humanity and a quite remarkable pig. The characters practically come right off the pages they are so brilliantly developed.
It may seem I am being rather vague about the plot, but one really must read and experience it to truly appreciate it.
This is a book to be savored, not read at lightning speed. The lyrical writing should be appreciated and enjoyed. I found myself setting the book down fairly frequently so I could really consider all that had happened and just what might happen next.
“Once Upon a River” is a magical book with a perfect ending.
“And now, dear reader, the story is over. It is time for you to cross the bridge once more and return to the world you came from. This river, which is and is not the Thames, must continue flowing without you. You have haunted here long enough, and besides, you surely have rivers of your own to attend to?”

Enjoy.

Sandy Mahaffey is former Books editor with The Free Lance–Star.

This book is spectacular! It's a story about stories. It's stellar storytelling about storytelling. I loved it more than I loved The Thirteenth Tale and I didn't think that would be possible.

I've been on a historical fiction kick lately so Once Upon a River came along at the perfect time for me and I recalled enjoying Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale so I decided to give this a shot too. Once Upon a River was a compelling story although it got a bit slow in the middle for me and meandered a little (I guess a bit like the river itself) but pulled itself together in the end quite nicely. The reader is introduced to an interesting cast of characters and in fact, the river was like a character of its own with a very strong personality and presence throughout the story. I found this to be interesting combination of science and mythology (dare I say fact and fiction?) with elements of both strongly appearing throughout.

I was in such a state of anticipation to read Diane Setterfield's latest book, Once Upon a River, and it did not disappoint. (If you have not already read The Thirteenth Tale, stop what you're doing and read that as well.)

Setterfield has such a wonderful story-telling style. Plan on taking your time and enjoying the slow reveal (without feeling like it's taking long at all) as Setterfield develops a world that lights up your imagination.. Set in the late 19th century, Once Upon a River tells the story of a strange event when a young girl dies and then comes back to life. Who is she? Is she the child of a woman believed to have drowned her child and killed herself? Is she a child that was kidnapped nearly two years earlier? The secrets of a number of townspeople are revealed in relation to this event...and the rest you must learn for yourself.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once Upon a River, by Diane Setterfield. Simon & Schuster, 2018

At some point in the 1800s, on the long night of the winter solstice, people gathered at the Swann and hoisted pints and told stories. Then the door bursts open, and in comes a large man with his face horribly mangled, carrying a small child. He falls on the floor in a dead faint, and at first the people think they are both dead. But the man breathes, and so Rita Sunday, the village healer, sews him up and puts him to bed. The child is dead; she is removed to an outbuilding. Rita feels compelled to try and figure out how she died, only to find that the girl is also alive.

Of course this event sets people talking. Three sets of people think the girl is their missing relative. The girl gives no clues; she doesn’t talk, and seems content to go with any of them. How the village people work out who gets her, and the machinations that some characters go through trying to use her to solve their problems, makes for a wonderful multi-thread story. There are hints of magical realism or fantasy; there is a mythical ferryman on the river, and the Thames almost seems to be a character. It’s a slow but well-knit tale. The characters are very well done; my heart broke for some of them. Five stars.

I wish I had been less busy so it hadn't taken me nearly two weeks to read this book, because I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't read it in fits and starts. Setterfield's writing is, as always, wonderfully lyrical and atmospheric, perhaps a bit dark. And she has a way of making her books seem both old and modern at the same time. The river flows though this story, giving and taking, while the residents of a small town live their life around it and with it. Three young girls, missing and maybe found, bring together a diverse group of people in interesting ways. I definitely recommend this to people who like literature that's of quality without being dull!

I first fell in the with Setterfield when I read The Thirteenth Tale. After that however I haven't been able to become engrossed with her other works. For some reason I just didn't care for this one. Maybe it was the fantasy aspect that just didn't work for me?

If I could describe this book in one word, I'd use "mesmerizing." It weaves a tale of a river and how several families along that winding current connect in ways that unfold as I read.
Just when I thought I had the story figured out, another curve came my way, and I was left to carry on along the banks waiting for another revelation.
At times, I felt like I might drown with emotion as I read of heartbreak, longing and love. At other times, I laughed out loud.
While I did not appreciate the Darwinian focus as the end or some of the sexual content, the book was entertaining. It truly is a story for storytellers.

As a big fan of The Thirteenth Tale this release was one of my top anticipated releases for 2018. Fans, I am happy to say that it does NOT disappoint.

Once Upon a River is a magical, beautiful and unforgettable tale. Be prepared to be transported to a river that takes you on a fairy-tale journey you won’t soon forget. The river is not only the setting but also a character in this story. Each of the characters are so unique with a story of their own. I became invested in each of them and could not turn the pages fast enough.

Needing a kick in the pants to start a 450-page book, I put together a buddy read with some of my favorite book buddies. Not everyone has finished but I must say that this is a fantastic one to buddy read. Highly recommend having someone to talk to as you read this story. I would not have known that Swan Inn is actually a real place situated along the Thames river. Look it up! It’s a bed and breakfast. Who wants to go?! 😊

Although it got off to a bit of a slow and complicated start, I was completely swept up in the story at the ¼ mark and finished the rest over the next 24 hours. I could NOT put this down. Reminiscent of my recent read The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton, we have more than our fair share of characters to keep straight. Part 2 does set us straight with most of them and as the story continues, we learn they each play an important role to the story.

This story leaves you with an ending that is like a kiss and sweet tuck in goodnight.
4 ½ stars

I was given the opportunity via Bookish First, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley to read Once Upon a River. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

This fantasy/fairy tale opens with a man bursting into an inn on the river, carrying a small girl in his arms. Initially thought to be dead, the miracle child becomes the subject of a custody war, as three families claim her as their own. Who is this little girl and what is the truth?

This fantasy reads like a mixed-up fairy tale, complete with a convoluted plot and a plethora of characters. The premise was good, but I had a hard time becoming engrossed in the actual story. The author took too long to get to the point and, subsequently, I lost interest in the book. The concepts of life, death, and the afterlife are nothing new in novels, so I was hoping that Once Upon a River would provide a different spin on a familiar theme. I just never truly felt any kind of connection to the characters and was not overly impressed with the way that the story was presented. The book was too dark to be charming and so I would be hesitant to recommend Once Upon a River to other readers.

An injured man appears in a tavern carrying a girl who seems to be dead. But suddenly she isn’t dead. No one knows who the man or the child is. But soon numerous people came and try to claim the child as theirs.

This is the first book I’ve read by the author, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Most of the book I wasn’t sure if this was set in a real Victorian era or in some fairy-tale world and it kind of bothered me. The book started good but in the middle, it slowed down a bit. I think that while it could have been shorter, it was well written.

There are many characters in the book and at times I had trouble remembering who was who and how were they connected.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. While I enjoyed it, I wasn’t as thrilled by it as I expected to be. But it was different from what I usually read so it’s certainly well remembered.

I absolutely LOVED this novel. It was told like a realistic fairytale. I was invested in all the characters, and though there was an air of magic to the story, the characters' stories were so relatable and realistic. Once Upon a River is set during Victorian times on the Thames River. A seemingly dead girl is pulled from the river, only to come back to life. She brings the sense of answered prayers to many of the people if the town: a couple who's daughter was kidnapped two years prior, grandparents whose grandchild went missing very recently and their ne'er-do-well son has no care where his daughter has gone, a nurse who's fears about motherhood have sentenced her to a life of solitude, and the photographer who loves the nurse, but can't break through her fears..

The Thirteenth Tale is one of my favorite novels of all time. Once Upon a River definitely has a narrative that makes it apparent the same author's voice is telling it. Once Upon a River has a bit more of a sense of whimsy than The Thirteenth Tale while both were simply transportive for the reader to another time and place.

Once Upon a River is another masterpiece by Diane Setterfield and I am fine with the length of time she takes to write her novels if they can all be the caliber of The Thirteenth Tale and Once Upon A River.

I have been hearing about Diane Setterfield and her explosive debut, THE THIRTEENTH TALE, for years, though I have never had the chance to read it. As a newcomer to her work, I had no idea what to expect with her latest, ONCE UPON A RIVER, but I knew that this was a book I wanted to take on immediately. In this digital age, it is so rare to feel like the first person who is in on something huge, and what could be bigger than a new novel from someone whose first book was called a “love letter to reading”?

Genre-bending, mysterious and lusciously written, ONCE UPON A RIVER is that rare sort of story that feels immediately familiar yet is full of secrets waiting to be revealed. Setterfield combines folklore, fairy tales and her own peculiar brand of mystery to create something entirely new --- a book that defies labels while still possessing all of the elements that immediately invite readers in and make them feel at home.

Set upon the banks of the Thames, ONCE UPON A RIVER begins at an inn called the Swan. Ancient, storied and beloved, the Swan is home to the matriarchal Ockwell family and a slew of regular drinkers and townsfolk. Although coins are traded for hearty glasses of ale, the true currency at the Swan is storytelling, and the best storyteller of all is Margot Ockwell’s husband, Joe Bliss. Along with their 12 little Margots and one little Jonathan, Margot and Joe live a relatively normal life, minding the drunks and carving out a life amongst the rising waters of the Thames --- until the night a stranger arrives, battered, bloodied and holding a strange wax-like puppet.

The arrival of this newcomer brings with it a seemingly unsolvable mystery when the puppet is revealed to be a deceased child, who miraculously returns to the world of the living with no medical intervention. But even the best storytellers at the Swan know that little girls do not die and come back to life, so the town is left to wonder who she is and to whom she belongs.

Sadly, children go missing all the time, both in reality and in fiction, so there is no shortage of families waiting to claim the miracle girl. Setterfield’s story focuses on three in particular: the Vaughans, a wealthy couple whose only daughter was kidnapped two years ago; Mr. Armstrong, a grandfather who learns about his possible granddaughter only after the death of his son’s wife; and Lily White, a grown woman who claims to see her sister in the girl, notwithstanding the obviously impossible age gap. Despite the startling number of families clamoring for the young girl, ONCE UPON A RIVER is surprisingly easy to follow, and Setterfield’s characters are among the most fleshed out I have ever read, both in their actions and in their interior motivations.

As Setterfield follows each family’s attempts to claim the girl, along with the effects on the townsfolk --- particularly the regulars of the Swan --- she invites readers into a sumptuous, gorgeously written world, where reality is stark and unavoidable, yet magic always seems to be just a page away. Just as the title reminds readers of childhood fairy tales, Setterfield’s lush but uncluttered world invites us to imagine --- just for a second --- that the veil between our world and others can be lifted, and what might happen if we were allowed to pass through.

Of course, ONCE UPON A RIVER is not all about magic. In describing each family’s attempt to claim the girl, Setterfield also explores some darker subjects, from brothels to violence and even kidnapping and murder. Much like the Thames with its pleasing current and unpredictable tides, Setterfield’s characters are often morally gray, though she provides us with more than a few to love and cheer for. In the town nurse, Rita Sunday, we have a perfect foil to the mystery and magic of the resurrected girl, as Rita believes in the scientific method above all and conducts several experiments in the hopes of finding the truth behind the child’s “miraculous” return to life. At the same time, we have characters like Mr. Armstrong, a man who so desperately wants to be the girl’s grandfather, yet must face the realities of his ne’er-do-well son and the implications of his disrespect for life --- human and animal.

In addition, Setterfield explores the themes of science and fantasy through her characters. The book takes place during the time of Darwin, and they often scoff at Darwin’s theories even while contemplating the miracle of a girl returning from death. In Rita, Setterfield deftly explores the science of the time, and what it might mean for a woman of faith to place her trust in something outside of religion. Photography is also a huge component of the book, and readers will delight in the thrill the characters feel in having their pictures taken —- after sitting perfectly still for 15 seconds, of course. These fact-based, historical themes provide a strong backbone to the more fantastic elements of the story, and serve to make the book more palatable to those who might not jump at the chance to read stories of ghosts and changelings and the like.

At once historical, fantastical and inherently magical, ONCE UPON A RIVER is an instant classic, an ode to magic, the power of storytelling and the strength of words. Do not miss this gorgeous, luscious tale of a miraculous girl and the town that learns to love her.

Thank you @atria and @netgalley for my review copy.
✨
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
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Y’all. I fell in love. Head first...sitting at my kitchen table staring into space for at least an hour after I finished this book...love.
✨
Will I speak in complete sentences? It’s hard to say. My review will be brief and to the point.
✨
Read the book. Is that enough 😂? In all seriousness this was absolute magic. The writing. The storytelling. The characters. The setting. It. Was. All. Magical. When the story was over I felt like Clara waking up from a dream about the Nutcracker Prince. This book will appeal to a wide variety of readers. You have historical fiction. Magical realism. Mystery. Family drama. And a sprinkle of love with an amazing ending. I want to quote the last paragraph. But I won’t. It literally was the best paragraph I have read in a very. Very, long time.
✨

#onceuponariver
#atriabooks
#dianesetterfield
#fivestsrread
#winterreads
#thesoutherngirlreads

I devoured this book. I have a very tall stack of books to read and get through (need to complete my 2018 reading challenge you know!!), so the last thing I wanted to pick up was a big, fat chunkster, but I love this author so I decided to move it to the top and get on with it. I'm so glad I did!
It reads like a fairy tale, and the title reflects that "once upon a time" feeling that prevails throughout the story.
With the Thames river as the backdrop, Setterfield weaves a story with richly written characters and depth of feeling that is a wonder to behold. I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did, because I'm not the biggest fan of myths and folklore, but I think since it was written as more of a realistic story rather than a fantastical tale it appealed to me.
This reminded me so much of Eowyn Ivey's "The Snow Child" another wonderful myth like tale that I loved.
A wonderful book and one that will recommend.

One cold winter night, all of the regulars are gathered at The Swan, a tavern near the Thames, to tell stories, drink, gossip....the usual. But this night is going to be anything but the usual. An injured man stumbles through the door and collapses to the floor. In his arms he carries a dead child....a little girl of about four years old. The local healer woman is called to tend to the man. When she goes to have a look at the corpse of the little girl, she finds her definitely dead. But, then....either by magic or otherwise....the little girl comes back to life. The mystery of the little girl has a deep effect on many. How did she come back to life? Who is she? And, what happened to them that night?

This book reads like a magical fairy tale. I love Diane Setterfield's writing style! The tale is really many stories within the story, as villagers try to piece together who this little girl might be. There are lots of characters in this story, but unlike most character driven books, it doesn't bog the story down. Everything unfolds in its own time. Bit by bit all sorts of secrets are revealed.

I read this book a chapter at a time, letting the story build slowly over a few days. Setterfield is quite the story-teller! She also wrote The Thirteenth Tale and Bellman & Black. Reading Once Upon a River makes me want to re-read her other two novels! And I'm eagerly awaiting her next book as well!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

This book is beautifully written and has an overall good feeling, almost nostalgic. I know many people will love this book and I'm sure it will be a big hit. That said, it was not entirely for me. It is a very character-based book that has great characters and stories, but it seems to take forever to progress. I truly enjoyed the stories about the characters and the role the river Thames plays in the book, it just was very long-winded. It was a little underwhelming for me, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good book. If you enjoy general fiction and character-driven stories, then this is definitely the book for you. If you like a book that is faster-paced and more going on, then it may not be for you. There are several characters and a lot of stories to keep track of and it does have a mysterious tone.