This is a tale of myths and legends, and you have to be open to magic to read it. There are a lot of stories within Once upon a River - the main story being who is the girl and who does she belong to. There are a lot of strong characters within the story, but with the main ones all being strong women. It's very well written and it isn't a long read - it needs some staying power, but well worth it.

This book is as unsettling as the river on which it is set. It's sometimes turbulent, sometimes calm, often meanders around what would seem to be the main thrust of the story. And I often felt as though I was trying to row against the current whilst reading it. I am a fairly fast reader but this book just took ages to get through. Having said that I found it interesting and very well written with wonderful imagery and often beautiful prose. The passage about the behaviour of the river at around 14% was so good I read it all aloud to my husband. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book which has introduced me to a new to me author whose back catalogue I shall be soon.

This was a really enchanting book mixing folklore with science to try to understand something that may not be under stable. This is magical realism mixed with the history of the Thames, and woven quite exquisitely into a story that enchants, binds and captivates.

The story focuses on the appearance of a girl one evening, who at first appeared dead, but then came back to life. How does the river grant life? How does the river take it away? How do we explain what we cannot understand, and how do we let our actions be controlled by our emotions? Does the review give us what we really desire, or does it take away everything?

This book was beautifully written, focusing on so many characters that other writers would have found it impossible to portray them so perfectly; Rita, a nurse, Daunt, a photographer, Armstrong, a farmer, the Vaughans, who are defined by the loss of their daughter, Lily, haunted by the past, and Margot, a pub landlord. I could add to that list, every single person described was three dimensional and whole. Every person played an important part in uncovering the mystery of the winter solstice.

An intriguing and mystifying book by Diane Setterfield - Once Upon a River - was without doubt one of the best books I read last year - I was entranced from the beginning to the end. It's a mystery beginning in the Swan Inn at Radcot, an ancient inn, well-known for its storytelling, on the banks of the Thames. A badly injured stranger enters carrying the drowned corpse of a little girl. It's mystifying as hours later the dead child, miraculously it seems, takes a breath, and returns to life. The mystery is enhanced by folklore, by science that appears to be magic, and by romance and superstition.

The story has a timeless feel to it but it is set somewhere towards the end of the nineteenth century. There are numerous strands and characters to the story and Diane Setterfield drew me slowly into the book with a leisurely description of the characters and their situations. Just as the river, a character in its own right, takes many twists and turns and has many tributaries, it becomes apparent that the little girl could belong to a number of different families all with links to the river. As the story progresses these individual families each claim the child as theirs and I was never really certain which of them - if any - were telling the truth. Much is hidden and much eventually is revealed.

It's a multi-layered book that you need time to digest, richly atmospheric and told from multiple viewpoints. I loved all the detail - about the river itself, about photography as Henry Daunt (based on Henry Taunt, the real-life photographer of the Thames and surrounding areas) travelled along the river in a houseboat with its own darkroom, about the body's metabolism and the treatment of injuries and diseases of the late Victorian period and about belief in the afterlife. Various people refer to Quietly, the ferryman who featured in the stories people told - he appeared when you were in trouble on the water, gliding in his punt, either guiding you to the safety of the bank, or if it is your time he takes you to another shore 'on the other side of the river.'

Once Upon a River is a beautifully and lyrically told story, and cleverly plotted so that I was not completely sure at times what it was that I was reading. It's historical fiction with a touch of magic that completely beguiled me with its mysteries and fascinating characters. I enjoyed reading her first book, The Thirteenth Tale, years ago before I began my blog, but I loved this one so much more!

My thanks to the publishers, Transworld Digital, for my review copy via NetGalley.

I was totally gripped by this wonderful book. The river is the main character, a living and ever present being on which both life and death depend. The community is close, gathering in groups to tell stories and exchange gossip, with myths and legends filling their heads. Something happens to set them into a fever of speculation, bringing some together and others into their own painful recollections of past deeds. The writing is poetical and brings to mind Under Milkwood, with the characters drawn in full technicolour. It is both poignant and funny, and totally gripping even the parts which we as readers choose to believe or not. The mystery is in our own imaginations.

A marvelous tale from a masterful storyteller! Wonderfully atmospheric, with the mighty Thames the central character, calm and peaceful on a Summer's day but capable of death and destruction when in full flood.

The tale begins sometime around the 1850s in an ancient Inn on the banks of the river, where people go to tell and listen to stories. One night they are abruptly interrupted when a man staggers in and collapses. In his arms, a waxen child, a little girl, who appears to be quite dead but miraculously comes back to life. The news travels fast and soon three claimants believe the girl is their missing child. So who is she - the girl who's mother committed suicide after supposedly drowning her child, or the little sister lost many years ago or the child kidnapped two years ago and now returned? Or is she something else altogether, a being from the legends of the river?

Each of these stories will be explored as the people who were there on that fateful night go about their lives. There are some wonderful characters, not least Rita the nurse, who loves children but is too afraid of childbirth to have any herself, Henry Daunt, the photographer with his wonderful houseboat fitted with a darkroom, who wants to photograph and document every facet of the river and its people and gentle Robert Armstrong who loves his family and children and also his pigs. There were many minor characters who were also lovingly crafted and memorable. With it's lovely writing and gentle storytelling this is a book that draws you in to a time of slower pace and a belief in myths and magic.

When I started this book, it gripped me from the first 5 pages. It had such an intriguing start, and I kept turning the pages. Setterfield's writing is beautiful, no doubt. However, I was missing 2 main things in the book. One is a bit more dynamic plot, as it was too slow at times. And I enjoy slow moving literary fictions, but then I'd rather it's compensated with good character development. That was another thing missing in my opinion in this book. There were lots of characters and they could be really interesting, but there was not much development on any of them properly.
Regardless, it was a good literary fiction with mystery element in it. There are many separate stories that connect, and this sort of book can be only written by a skilful writer. Setterfield is a very good story teller.
I just wished it was a tad shorter, pace was a bit better and more character development.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for granting an access to this copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book begins with an injured stranger arriving at the Swan Inn with a body of a young child. Who are they ? This then becomes the sole topic of conversation between the regulars of the Inn, and the events become a story, one to be shared growing more marvellous with each retelling.

The characters are all so well written, encompassing human nature in all its glory. The river Thames is described as a character itself with power and magic at its core and the writer uses quite a few watery terms in her descriptions of characters too.

Although this is set in a time of scientific discovery, anything that cannot be immediately explained is deemed magical or supernatural and this makes for a wonderfully creative story. The final chapters are breathtaking and moving and comes to a satisfying end. I loved it and can see this being a must read.

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Its the winter Solstice and The Swan Pub in Buscot is full of regulars who love to tell stories when a stranger stumbles in carrying the body of a young girl. They all believe the girl to be dead and stories begin to develop on who the two are and what happened to them on that night.
This is a long tale of attempting to tell a story without actually telling the story which makes it very repetitive and, to be honest a hard slog to read. There are numerous characters involved at the beginning who don't have any relevance to the story and it is only about half way through that these are dwindled down to the main ones.
No surprise in that the full story is laid out in the last couple of chapters and a little disappointing. A shame as the author could have made so much more out of it without the failed attempts at keeping the reader in suspense.

The opening to this book didn't really grab me and, with Christmas approaching, I put it down and didn't pick it up again for over a week. But when I did, the story enveloped me and I was totally lost in it until I was finished the next day.

The author delivers many possibilities to the reader, who remains just as confused as the characters for most of the book, and it is this which draws you in so completely. The changing and developing relationships which are described, the moments of beauty and of horror, and the continued mystery of the little girl are carefully weaved and come across wonderfully.

I enjoyed this book and will be talking about it in my Balancing the Books video for December. Thanks for the galley!

I could not get into this book at all. I didn't identify with the characters or the story. I hate not finishing a book but this one defeated me. Sorry

Another intriguing read from this great author. A real sense of mystery and foreboding in places, but there are some great characters .. there is an excellent sense of community with the patrons in the public house. and i did get a bit it confused, as there are so many characters, but persevered and was well rewarded. Every book Dianne writes has this real darkness about it, but they are so very different from each other..

Good old-fashioned storytelling at its best. Like the Thames, the story twists and turns as it reveals and explores the lives of a host of characters. An enjoyable read.

An unusual and mysterious story. From its start, it cast itsspell and took me into its depths.
As the tale spun on, it kept its secret and l wondered if I’d ever be privy to what lay at it’s heart.
Each character wove a story and they all revolved around the river.
There is always something hypnotic about a body of water and so it was with this story. I was introduced to many lives before the river finally gave up its secrets.
A beautiful, mysterious and bewitching tale.

This is the story of a number of families who lived by the river Thames in the 19th century. It centres upon the fate of a child rescued from the river, apparently drowned, who seems to come back to life. Various people think they know who she is but nobody can prove it, and the child herself has lost the power of speech. This story is fascinating, atmospheric, and has the feel of myth or legend about it. The characters and their lives are skilfully interwoven. I found it almost impossible to put down and I heartily recommend it.

An unusual tale of ghosts and mystery. Primarily revolving around a Swan Inn on the Thames where a dead or maybe not dead child is brought in. Is the child Alice who disappeared a few days before, Amelia who was kidnapped 2 years previous or Ann who was murdered several years ago? As the inn is popular with storytelling, the author has written the book as though she was verbally telling the story, often teasing the reader by digressing away from the main story. A very enjoyable read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, more so even than The Thirteenth Tale. The setting, the characters, the story all drew me in and I loved every moment of this book.

An interesting story, a good story, which winds and meanders like the river it is set upon. The people, their ways and their lives are all laid before us. A child who appears to be dead comes back to life and enlivens the people in the area, changes lives and then moves on.

A beautifully written, magical tale as meandering as the river from which the story arises. An absolutely wonderful book.