Told as a fairy tale, this story has some very interesting and complex characters. I was drawn to the women who all claimed this mysterious girl who appeared one night. Most of the women were mothers, but not all. However they did all feel the need to protect the child after a miracle brought her back to life, thrown out from the river.

The river had it's own story, almost a life of it's own, which made for a dark and brooding landscape.

This was not a quick read for me. It held my interest but I was never totally immersed in the story. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was not a story you could read quickly. It was one to read slowly and thought fully. This was part folklore, part fairytale, part mystery and definately magical. Well done Diane Setterfield! I thoroughly enjoyed this story from start to finish! I highly recommend it!

Very good book of love, loss, and redemption in the 19th century. Some descriptions of abuse may be a bit overwhelming to certain readers. I found this to be a very good mystery with family drama. The characters were very well written and the story was very good as well. I received a copy from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I hate using the word "unputdownable," but that is what this is. This is my first Setterfield, and I honestly don't know why. The sentences, the hooks, the humor! If this isn't on everyone's bestsellers' list, I'd be surprised. Light enough to give these dark days of winter some sunshine, and engaging enough to get you through a snow day. Drink with some nice tea or a good ale.

I LOVED The Thirteenth Tale. I wasn't a huge fan of Bellman and Black, but all the early reviews said this one is more like the first than the second. After it took me a few weeks to get half way through it, I'm giving up. I was just a little bit bored by it, as so much time is spent on what people are speculating happened, that nothing really happens. So, in an attempt and actually reading, I'm giving up on this one. I'm sorry Diane Setterfield. This is just not doing it for me right now.

This might actually be a perfectly told story -- which is fitting, since it's a story about stories. The characters were compelling, the sub-plots weaved together beautifully, and the recurring theme of the river was the perfect background. I remember reading "The Thirteenth Tale" by Setterfield a few years ago, and being taken aback at how much I enjoyed both the writing and the tale itself. I had the same experience with "Once Upon a River". I expected something good based on the plot summary and my previous experience with Setterfield, but I found myself engrossed in the mystery, whimsy, and emotion of it all. The plot itself was also well balanced -- there were enough nuggets along the way that I was able to piece things together on my own (e.g., a particular pig, or a man in a wide-brimmed hat), but never so much that the ending unraveled itself too soon. I particularly loved the way Setterfield occasionally "broke the fourth wall" (if that's the right phrase for a novel, rather than a film) by acknowledging the reader. It highlighted the role of the reader as "listener", as if we were right in the Swan with the rest of the regulars.

In the end, I keep coming back to how well "Once Upon a River" showed how to tell a story. Setterfield expertly nailed the arc of this particular story (with a set beginning, middle, and end), plus the realistic (and joyful) ways they can sometimes meander, and how sometimes there are flourishes that you're not entirely sure you can believe, but which make the story all the better.

Never before have I been so conflicted about a book.

Diane Setterfield is an amazing writer. Her words are lyrical and magical and filled with fanatastic imagery. I was enchanted by The Thirteenth Tale and I was hoping that I would have the same reaction to this book. As beautiful as Setterfield’s words are, I struggled with this book. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and I often found myself confused because there were so many moving parts in this story. I also had a difficult time discerning when this novel was supposed to be taking place; perhaps that was the author’s intent. To be clear, I didn’t dislike this. I just wish I could have loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

One of my top 10 reads of 2018, hands down. You will be swept away by this book, my friends. It's a chunky one, coming in at just under 500 pages, BUT IT'S WORTH IT. Trust me on this one!

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Since I read and enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale and Bellman & Black, I didn’t hesitate to pick up Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield.

The story begins at The Swan, an old inn that sits on the bank of the Thames in Radcot. The Swan is known for it’s storytelling patrons. Stories are told and retold, things added, things subtracted. One evening, as someone is about to recount the Battle of Radcot, the door of the inn flung open and there stood a man holding what looked like a puppet in his arms. His face was bashed in and as they took the puppet from him, they realized it was a young, dead girl.

From there on the story weaves it tale. The river effects everything in the town, including the folklore, and stories tell of Quietly, a man or entity that floats on the river in a boat. If it is your time, Quietly guides you to the other side of the river, if it’s not your time, he brings to the other side, where you will live to see another day.

I don’t want to say much more, for I don’t want to give anything away. The story is clever, the plot line has plenty of twists and the characters are deep and complex. It is beautifully written and the ending wraps things up nicely.

My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is that the story seemed to drag a bit. It held my interest the whole time, but it felt like I was reading it a long time. I just checked and it’s 480 pages, so it is a fairly long read.

I received an ARC of the book.

On winter solstice night, an injured man that seemed to be at death’s door arrived at a tavern in a village on the side of the Thames river. He fainted on arrival, thus the locals quickly called the village’s nurse and forgot about the bundle the man was carrying in his arms. They dismissed it as a doll. It was not. It wasn’t until the man had been tended to that people remembered the bundle, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a toddler of about four years old that looked dead. Upon thorough inspection, the nurse concluded that the girl was indeed dead, possibly from drowning, but after spending some time by her side, she realized that the girl was breathing once again. Was it a miracle? Local villagers thought so. The nurse, however, was confounded. This case defied the medical knowledge she had acquired throughout her life. Did she miss something important during her examination? She didn’t think so, and swore to get to the bottom of it.

The story of how the dead girl lived became the favorite topic of storytellers. For many miles up and down river the story spread and that is how two families and a single woman came to claim her as kin. The first family to arrive at the tavern for the girl was the Vaughans—Helena and Anthony—, a couple who had lost their daughter, Amelia, two years prior in a kidnapping. They recognized the girl as theirs, at least the mother did, the father was not so sure. While the Vaughans were at the tavern, Robin Armstrong, a young man whose wife had thrown her daughter to the river before committing suicide two days ago, also arrived, with the intention of claiming the girl as his own. He had never seen his daughter but wanted to keep his options open. The third interested party was the maid of the parson in the adjacent village, Lily White, who claimed that the girl was her lost little sister, Anne. Lily had the weakest claim of all because of her age, which made impossible for her mother to have conceived the girl at a childbearing age.

It was universally accepted that “the girl who lived again” was Amelia, the Vaughans’ long lost daughter. The family was together once more and they could be happy at last. Anthony Vaughan’s peace was a fragile one, for he had lingering doubts that the girl who was sharing their lives was actually his lost Amelia. Events eventually conspired to shatter their peace, but with so many diverging interests at play some questions remained elusive, like who was really this girl that everyone wanted so dearly to keep and raise as their own, and where had she come from?

The only thing in common between Once Upon a River, the third novel by Diane Setterfield, and her previous works is lavish, old fashion storytelling. The river at its center lends a slow cadence to the story, like the bends and twists of the river, that give it a “classical” feel. This novel has echoes of M.L. Steadman’s The Light Between Oceans, because there is a “custody battle” of sorts at the center of the plot, but the similarity between both works end there.

The story unfolds in the 1800s, the year is only mentioned once, and the only “modern” elements of the story are trains as mode of transportation, photography, scientific observations as ways to prove or disprove theories, and some Darwinian ideas accepted as some sort of conventional wisdom. Parapsychology seems to be in its infancy as well, as evidenced by a character in the story that is a cross between a medium and a therapist. Thus, the story unfolds in a sort of in-between state between the old world and the new, between convention and defiance, right and wrong, good and evil. The lives of the majority of the characters that populate this novel are ruled by natural cycles; most are farmers, cress growers, gravel diggers, boat makers, and part-time drunkards with a flair for telling tall tales. They feel at ease in a world of mysticism and folklore, which contrasts with some of the other characters, the fewest in number, who stand for progress and science, such as Rita (the nurse), and Henry Daunt (the photographer).

Once Upon a River unfolds of its own accord, developing branches and sometimes going on tangents before going back to its core. I have to admit that I wished in some parts, especially towards the end, that the story had been more tightly focused, pared down a bit, but in doing so the spirit of the tale may have been compromised somewhat. This is not a conventional page turner, but it will involve the reader in such a way that he/she will find impossible to break free of the spell until the end is reached.

Disclaimer: I received from the publisher a free e-galley of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Where to begin, where to begin...How about the writing? Diane Setterfield is a magnificent writer. Most writers are good at some things, and less good at others, but Setterfield is a master of all. Her characters are fully rendered,  the mood properly set, and her descriptions are poetic and immersive. Much like F. Scott Fitzgerald, her sentences can take your breath away. Unlike Fitzgerald, she also writes a wonderful story (sorry, not sorry)!

After my love affair with The Thirteenth Tale, I was thrilled to hear she was coming out with something new. That said, if you are expecting a story like The Thirteenth Tale, you will be disappointed. Not because this book is disappointing, but because Once Upon a River is wholly different. The pace is slower, the mystery more drawn out, and the overall focus is really on the characters and their relationships, in light of the astonishing events that take place. Everyone in the village is affected differently, and as the mystery unravels, they (and we) learn a great deal about their wants and desires, and every single person involved in the events of that night finds their life quite changed when all is said and done. Overall, it is a wonderful treat!

One thought I'd like to share: I'm sure you noticed that I only gave a 4 star rating, despite having enjoyed quite a bit (I hope that's evident!). I strongly suspect that I didn't get the 5-star feeling because I was reading several books at once. Most of the time, this is fine. It's how I read more often than not. But. Some books require (deserve!) full focus. This is one of those books. Had I read it alone, giving it a few long sittings rather than a lot of shorter ones, I feel sure I would have lost myself in the story more fully. At some point, I hope to reread it with that approach, to test my theory. For now, I leave it a 4 stars. But I digress...

If you are the kind of reader who can appreciate a gorgeous sentence, this book is for you! If you are the kind of reader who loves a good story, also for you! However, if you don't appreciate somewhat longish books with lots of stunning and flowery words and very little action, not so much for you. Love literary fiction? Definitely, definitely for you!

Once Upon a River was one of the first Women's Fiction books I've ever read for fun-- Young Adult just keeps calling out to me-- but because of my experience with this novel, I'll definitely be on the lookout for more like it.

The main premise of Once Upon a River can be summed up in a couple of sentences, but it's so much more special than how it can be briefly explained. The book is part mystery, part magical realism, and completely intriguing. There's an Inn, a certain famous river in England, and a young girl who brings with her many questions. The main mystery of this book is not only where did she come from, but also if she's even real.

What I liked most about Once Upon a River was the mystery aspect. This book could have been written without the many questions and still could have been okay, but the fact that the reader doesn't know what's up with the child that appears in the beginning was the fun part. The reason I couldn't put this book down was because I needed to know what was going to happen at the end; the last fifty pages were worth all of the build-up in the first four hundred pages or so.

The only aspect of this book that I didn't like as much was that it was slow in the middle, but it's all necessary for the shocking ending. The middle has a lot of daunting character introductions and development, but you have to keep paying attention.

Once Upon a River really did make a difference to me because it was the first Women's Fiction novel I really enjoyed. I'll look for more in that genre from now on, and if just one book can do that for me, you know that it's powerful.

3.5 stars! Charming, atmospheric & lyrically written!

This was an extremely hard review for me to write because my thoughts are so conflicted with how I actually feel upon finishing this book. I thought the storytelling and the writing was absolutely fantastic but I was never able to fully immerse myself in this tale though. At times I was finding myself a little bit bored with my mind wandering often and at other times I was excited and in awe of what I was reading.

ONCE UPON A RIVER by DIANE SETTERFIELD is a magical and mysterious tale that takes you on a slow-moving and meandering journey that reminded me so much of a gothic fairy tale. Immediately upon starting this book there is this strong sense of folklore which I absolutely loved and found so appealing.

Although…….

I was never really able to fully stay within the flow of this novel though which was very frustrating for me. I do not by any means fault the author for my inability to stay fully focused on this tale though because I really think that I just don't do well with a slow burn. There was so much that was so appealing and unique about this book that I should have absolutely loved.

This was definitely an enjoyable and entertaining read for me and it is one that I knew that I had to read. I am just a little disappointed that I didn’t LOVE this one more as I absolutely loved The Thirteenth Tale. I think if I didn’t have so many books on my plate right now and I was able to just relax and savor this story…...I probably would have loved it.

*This was a Traveling Friends Read*

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Eye-catching, intriguing, whimsical, beautiful and a lovely representation to storyline.
Title: An absolutely fabulous title that is extremely appealing and a wonderfully fitting representation to storyline and a homage to storytelling.
Writing/Prose: Beautiful, elegant, lyrical, vividly descriptive, whimsical, well-written and fluid.
Plot: Interesting, enchanting, suspenseful, folklore, intriguing, leisurely-paced, and entertaining.
Ending: Satisfying although I wish that I was able to slow down my thoughts while I was reading this book.
Overall: This lover of magical folklore would absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Diane Setterfield for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

I loved Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, a wonderful gothic mystery with storytelling at its heart, but I was really disappointed with Setterfield’s second book, Bellman & Black. I’m happy to report fabulous storytelling is back in her third novel, Once Upon a River.

In Once Upon a River, storytelling is rooted in the walls of The Swan, a rundown bar on the River Thames filled with locals telling tales, trying to outdo each other. Many of their stories are different takes on a centuries-old war that took place on the land surrounding them, but one night changes the trajectory of their stories forever. On a wicked, stormy night, an injured man bursts through the doors of The Swan with a dead girl in his hands. Or at least they thought she was dead.

By the time a healing woman arrives and declares the girl alive, stories are already being formulated about who she is and what happened. These stories quickly travel throughout the surrounding area and three different groups of people come to claim the girl, all saying she is someone else. Thus begins the mystery of the mute, not-so-dead girl, and all the people who claimed her.

Set in an unspecified past, before modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and automobiles, Once Upon a River is steeped in folktales and legends, where history is passed down through stories and good storytellers are revered. Setterfield could be revered as one of these storytellers because the prose here is so beautiful. Each character is fully fleshed out and all the elements of the story come crashing together in the end perfectly. I also loved the little bit of magical realism because it makes complete sense in a community where lore and legend are believed.

This is definitely not a fast-paced book, the story unfolds slowly as we learn about these people, so it’s a perfect book to lose yourself in during the next winter storm. Light a fire, grab a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, and dive in.

Once Upon a River is a beautifully written book. Quite dense, it took me a few rainy days to get into but once I was invested, I was hooked. Like the author's previous book The Thirteen Tale, Setterfield spares no detail. From the mist-filled setting of The Swan Inn to the cold rushing water of the river, Thames, the setting of Once Upon a River is lush.

Setterfield introduces us to this new world by quietly opening up the door to The Swan where we meet characters like the story teller and his wife, Margot. Their ordinary, quiet evening is interrupted by the arrival of an injured man holding what looks like a waxen doll. Upon close inspection, however, we discover that the doll is a child. Waxen in her deathly pallor but clinging to life. From there the story begins to unravel more like a intricate piece tapestry. Over the next several chapters we meet Rita (the village doctor), Robert Armstrong, Lily White, and the Vaughns. Each character is in introduced in painstakingly great detail. You feel the Vaughn's pain at the loss of their child or Armstrong's quiet reserve as they come together to see if the child is one of theirs. All throughout the tale you have the river Thames and the folklore that surrounds it giving the historical mystery a magical quality. As an avid fantasy reader, I kept turning the first few pages expecting to see something fantastical hop out of the bushes but I came to realize - this is not that kind of book. This is about capturing the human spirit through story. Who is the silent girl? Where did she come from? Why won't she talk? Is she Robin Armstrong's daughter or the missing child of the Vaughns'. What quiet magic is responsible for her appearance?

I will reiterate, this was a beautifully written book paying homage to the art of story telling and folklore. If you enjoy books like The Shadow of The Wind or The Thirteenth Tale, you will love Once Upon a River. I even picked up a print copy for my family as a Christmas gift so I endorse this book wholeheartedly.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read this book. I wanted to step away and absorb the storyline and characters. The saying, “It’s complicated” come to mind as the story unfolds. The layers and twists makes the folklore mesmerizing as it leads the reader through the rabbit hole. I read a ton of books and for the most part they tend to bleed together and I forget the details of the story. Diane Setterfield’s book is anything but forgettable; It lingers in the back of my mind. Pick this book up for a book club or just because. It makes you think outside the box. A special thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read “Once Upon A River” in exchange for my honest opinion. #NetGalley #OnceUponARiver

Once Upon a River was a bit of a slow burn for me. I wasn't immediately hooked but the fluid, atmospheric writing of Diane Setterfield - plus the allegiance I have due to my love for The Thirteenth Tale - kept me reading.

Set on the River Thames, Once Upon a River tells the story of three missing girls. When a mysterious man arrives to the White Swan pub carrying a puppet on winter solstice, no one thinks much of it. Discovering that the puppet is in reality a dead child, they put her in the cellar. That is, until the village physician discovers the child is actually alive. Quickly three families place claim to this child. She quickly becomes the talk of the villagers. Who is this girl? How does she live?

A mixture of fairytale, historical fiction and mystery. This book continues to keep you captivated until the end. The writing is one of a kind and I was quickly pulled into the story. There were many times during the story that I had ah-ha! moments; thinking I understood what was coming and quickly thrown for a loop. Setterfield does a great job of balancing the fine line of writing a historical fiction with a sprinkle of magic so the reader is always aware of the fantasy component.

I have never read a Diane Setterfield book before, and I promise this will not be my last.

One of the things I love about Setterfield’s novels is how atmospheric they are. I was completely immersed in the setting and could picture the Swan inn, farm, and the river like I was there. I enjoyed several of the interconnecting storylines lines (I really loved anything that had to do with the Ockwell’s who owned the inn, Rita the nurse, Robert who owns a nearby farm, and Ben who really is the hero of the ending/book in my opinion) and I loved the subtle fairy tale aspects.

With so many different characters and storylines I felt like a few parts needed to be a little more hashed out and I was a little confused about Robin and I didn’t get Henry’s backstory/why he ended up at the swan. This is definitely a book you need to take your time with so you’re able to keep all the characters and plot points straight but the ending is worth slowing down.

Thanks Netgalley for my free review copy!

A dead child is fished out of the river--but then hours later comes back to life. One couple thinks it's their daughter who was kidnapped two years ago, another thinks it's his missing grandchild, and yet another thinks it's her sister who drowned years before. Rumors and stories begin to fly and past secrets are eventually revealed. This book is full of mystery, suspense, supernatural, with richly drawn characters and delicious writing. A thoroughly enjoyable story from beginning to end.