Paced as a slow trickle, rather than a torrent of words, Setterfield tells of diverse lives that are entwined around one seemingly miraculous event - a small child found dead in the river, who comes back to life.

The characters are beautifully constructed, with the standard fairytale set of good heroes and heroines, whilst the villains are dastardly, yet all have backstories, histories and fleshed out characters.

The description and understanding of the river itself is genuinely beautiful and it is no surprise that Setterfield herself lives on the Thames.

There is no speed reading here; instead, I loved every page. My favourite turn of phrase:
"Then nobody spoke, and they breathed the minutes in and out until they made an hour."

The Swan at Radcot is an ancient inn along side the Thames, renowned for the storytelling that happens there.  On a dark and stormy midwinter night an injured stranger stumbles in, carrying the body of a drowned child.  Hours later the child stirs and begins to breathe again, sparking the start of the greatest story the patrons of the inn have ever told.  Is it a miracle? Or is it something that can be explained by science?  Once Upon A River tells the story of the child that died and lived again.

I found this book incredibly easy to get into.  I loved the idea of the inns and villages along the Thames as a setting for a story, and found I could easily imagine the scenery and places the author was describing.  The opening chapter of the story sets the mystery up and gives us just enough to draw you in and want to know who the mysterious child is and how she came to be in the river.

The story progresses in a meandering sort of way, drifting between different characters and their parts in the story, and slowly weaving them together to give us the full picture.  It worked really well for this particular story, and Setterfield's writing was superb. 

I found a lot of the characters likeable, except for the ones that were clearly villains from the start.  I enjoyed reading about the community spirit and how everyone knew each other and helped each other, even from different farms and villages.  I think Mr Armstrong was my favourite character, mainly because there was aspects of him that reminded me of my Dad.  I also liked Rita and Mr Daunt. 

I didn't really know where the story was going, and hadn't foreseen the ending coming.  The story as a whole was a sad tale, with lots of heartache for the characters involved, but it did finish with hope for happier lives for them all.

I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book, and found myself truly immersed in the characters and settings.  It's the first of Setterfield's books that I have read, and I highly recommend it.  I will certainly be going on to read more and look out for future releases.  An easy 5*

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishing for an arc in exchange for an honest review

In the small hours of this rainy Sunday morning, I finished a book. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. This is such an interesting book. Dark and mysterious and beguiling. It gently pulls you into its world and I'm sure there is an elegant comparison with flowing water to be made.
I really enjoyed it. It was fascinating to see the mystery unfold and the characters develop. It's always interesting when you can't decide whether or not you like or trust a character. And any book where you find yourself feeling part of its world is a good book!
There are some gently mystical elements, which I approve of, I'm a huge fan of magical realism, although this book isn't that. But life can't always be easily explained and this book really embraces that!
I got my copy through Netgalley, but it will be published on 17 January 2019, and I definitely recommend it!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Set in the Victorian era, this is a captivating story that reads like a fairytale. The many villages along the majestic river Thames come to life in this magical adventure.

A drenched man walks into a pub carrying a doll-like creature. He's barely alive, she appears dead. But is she?
We go back downstream, to the origins of the river, where the mystery began. Where are Alice and Amelia? Both girls are missing, but what happened to them?

The flow introduces us to river gypsies, Quietly the ferryman, changelings, clever animals, the solstice and all the quirky characters living on the banks of the river.
Kudos to the photographer who made it all visible.
Once Upon a River is a wonderful read. So well crafted and such exquisite storytelling. A real gem.

If I’ve taken my time to get round to reviewing Once Upon A River, it’s because I don’t know quite how to approach what must be up there with the best books I’ve read this year.

These days I don’t read much literary fiction and haven’t read anything by Diane Setterfield, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The story begins at some point in the late nineteenth century, in the Swan Inn on the River Thames. It’s winter and the regulars are sitting telling stories when and injured man staggers in and collapses — and he’s carrying a drowned child.

The man survives and the little girl turns out not to be drowned but that’s the beginning of the mystery. The child can’t be identified and there are three families who are, or claim to be, missing a daughter of that age. The wealthy Vaughns lost their daughter, Amelia, to a kidnapper and she was never returned. Little Alice went missing when her mother committed suicide, and housekeeper Lily is improbably convinced that the girl is her little sister, Anne. That’s the plot, but it’s so much more complicated than that. And it’s a tale made wonderful by the telling.

I’m a sucker for a proper setting, for a book that’s bedded into its landscape, and this book follows the river. All the families are tied to it. It gives and it takes away, a constant presence and a constant risk. The book is peopled by a multitude of characters, far too many to mention individually, but every one of them is believable and their lives are woven together.

Diane Setterfield tells a tale that twists and turns like the river itself, revealing secrets and surprises at every turn and leading to a satisfying conclusion. The real lives are woven with the folklore of the river and the ever-present spectre of Quietly, the boatman who appears to those who fall into the river, taking those whose time has come to the darkness of the river and returning those who aren’t ready to die to the safety of the bank.

Once Upon A River is a compelling, moving book, and I absolutely loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written story, sprinkled with magical realism and appealing characters. The book begins with the sudden appearance of an injured man and a drowned child at a local inn. When the child, who had appeared to be dead, comes back to life, the locals try to piece together who she is. With more than one family claiming her as their own, a tangled web emerges. The story moves quite slowly, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing - there was a feeling of building throughout. The author has created a richly textured world, at once supernatural and deeply human.

There was a lot to love about this book. I think that Diane Setterfield is an amazing writer, and remember The Thirteenth Tale being one of my books of the year.
This is a wonderful tale, with a touch of magic about it- the story of a community living with the river at its heart. A mysterious young girl is revived, seemingly from death after she is rescued from the river, but no one knows who she is. As characters in the book start to lay claim to her, the author masterfully keeps the reader as unsure as the characters themselves and this mystery at the heart of the novel kept me reading.
There were some characters who I thought were fantastically drawn, especially Henry Daunt a photographer based on a real person (which I only found out at the end from the author's note) and Rita, the nurse who I loved (definitely my favourite character in the book).
I loved the fairy-tale feel to the story but my only complaint was that it felt sometimes that the author was trying to squeeze in too many strands into the story, and it felt like there were a few too many characters.
Overall though, a beautifully written book full of atmosphere which kept me turning the pages.

The description was very promising: on a winter's night in a dark tavern on the banks of the Thames, a heavily injured man stumbles in, holding a young girl who appears to be dead. Later that same evening, the little girl again comes to life by some unknown means - is the answer to be found in religion, magic or in science? And who is the young girl? This is the mystery at the heart of the novel.

The opening chapter put me in mind of one of my favourite tales by Philip Pullman - Clockwork. We understand that this is going to be a story about storytelling and perhaps somewhere the lines between reality and fiction will blur.

Some people are going to love this book. It crosses genre, moving from historical fiction to magical realism with ease and Diane Setterfield can clearly write.

So why 3 stars? Because following the first chapter, I couldn't keep engaged with this novel. It lacked pace and I felt it really dragged in the middle. The reader goes on an adventure with a number of the folk from Radcot and its surrounds and goes into great depth within each of these stories, in order to weave those plot-lines together for the book's conclusion. I didn't lose track of the characters, but I didn't feel invested in them because just as I would start to care, there would be a quick shift to the next person. Two of the main characters also had an ending that I found disappointing.

I would certainly read another book by this author, but I'm not sure I would start with this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Diane Setterfield and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A dark and stormy midwinter night. An old inn on the Thames. Storytellers gather around the fire, drinking and spinning yarns, when an injured stranger bursts in, holding a drowned girl in his arms. The local nurse declares her dead—until, hours later, the little girl takes a breath and lives again. That breath throws the families who claim the girl as their own into upheaval. All the while, the river flows on, but eventually, it must give up its secrets.

This is a beautiful story and I absolutely loved it. It’s definitely a long book and a slow burn—meandering like the Thames, here and there tumultuous, a swirling eddy of chaos; but at its heart, gentle, natural, and full of secrets that it never gives up in a flash of light or explosive epiphany. Rather, like the river, it ebbs and flows, and when the water draws back a bit, it offers a glimpse into its depths.

Once Upon a River blends so many genres and styles. It’s a bit of historical fiction, mystery, ghost story, magical realism, and romance told in what feels like an oral tradition and peppered with folklore and fairy stories and old wives’ tales about changelings and foundlings, with a pinch of Darwin for good measure. In this often sad tale, the line between the real and the fantastic blurs, and the characters often step over the boundary from their reality into the supernatural. But I think one of the things Setterfield achieves by blending all these genres into a nesting-doll narrative is the sense that magic really does live in the mundane, and because magic informs the world-building, many of the characters readily accept the miraculous in their everyday lives.

You’d think a story that packs so much might not work, but the main narrative arc is a straightforward mystery: an injured man brings a drowned girl into the Swan at Radcot, and the rest of the characters try to figure out who she is. It’s the other stories woven and layered within the main narrative that make this book so rich and complex, that enliven the story with their own little threads, to form a cohesive tapestry in the end. While the writing itself didn’t feel particularly magical to me, it was this structure that made the book stand out for me and supported many other aspects of the story, such as the character development. As I mentioned, many of the characters are storytellers themselves, excited and enchanted by magical happenings in the everyday. It’s often the characters’ voices and their own stories that move the main story along and provide pieces of the puzzle.

There are a lot of characters in this book but they were all unique to me and all felt alive. The antagonists were a bit cheesy and devolved into standard-issue villainous “I’m the evil villain bwahaha/Luke, I am your father” dialogue towards the end, but otherwise, I felt that I got to know the other characters on a personal level. The little girl and Quietly—their stories enchanted me and I really loved how they came together in the end. I also loved Robert Armstrong. Not just because he and his family bring the only diversity to the book, but because he was just so intelligent and kind and warm. Plus, I could really relate to his love of his family life as well as the magic he sees in nature. I loved his interactions with animals. I did feel a little uncomfortable with the way Robert’s diversity is written into the book—like, to make him “acceptable” he has to be educated and from a wealthy family. I know that the wealth is an important plot point because it led him to meet Bess, and the educated speech is the avenue for people to understand how good a person he is, but I would’ve liked the book to do something different here. As well, I was not happy at the author’s characterization of Robert at Bess’s expense. Her rape seemed to be downplayed while his own role in “saving” her from the humiliation became the focus of that trauma.

Overall, though, I loved this book and have already recommended it to my own family and friends. Once Upon a River is well worth the magical, genre-bending journey down the Thames, and makes a cozy tale for a deep dark winter’s night.

I downloaded Once Upon a River because it's a historical mystery, which I love, but also the mention of folk tales caught my eye; fantasy is my new favourite genre and I've always adored fairy tales! But I was thrilled by just how good this story is, and how clever! I completely fell in love with the characters, so much so that it's now one of my all-time favourite books!

The story is set in the mid-nineteenth century, at a time when events that might have once seemed magical can now be explained by science. But at the ancient Swan Inn, on the banks of the River Thames, they still love telling each other stories. Some of their tales have been told and re-told for generations, but the strangest of all is when one mid-summer night an injured man stumbles through its doors and promptly collapses. In his arms is the body of a little dead girl - who miraculously comes back to life. As her story spreads through the village, and then further afield, more than one person comes forward to claim her. But who is telling the truth, and who is telling a tale?

Once Upon a River has a host of fascinating characters and the author takes her time to explain who everyone is, their history, and how they fit into the story. So there are dozens of these enchanting little stories taking place alongside the main mystery. But the really clever thing is that this gives the effect of the story flowing between each character in the same way the river flows through each location in the story. Genius!

I particularly loved the characters of Robert Armstrong, the illegitimate son of an Earl and a black maid, who does most of the detecting, and Rita Sunday, the nurse who has seen so many childbirths it's put her right off ever falling in love and getting married.

Will you love this book as much as I did? If you like historical mysteries, then yes. If you adore traditional 'let's sit by the fireside and I'll tell you a story' kind of books, you will definitely love this one. If the mention of folk lore and fantasy puts you off, those elements are done with a very light hand. The film/TV rights have already been sold to Kudos (Broadchurch/Grantchester) and I can't wait to see what they do with with it.

Once Upon a River is a fabulous read that deserves to become an instant classic, one that will be read, and re-read, and enjoyed for years to come. One of my top 3 reads this year.


Thank you to Diane Setterfield and Doubleday (Transworld/Random House) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K./Transworld for an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It’s published in ebook edition in the U.K. on 4th December with the hardback due mid-January 2019.

I was thoroughly enchanted by ‘Once Upon A River’ from the opening to its final pages. In part it is a love letter to the Thames, powerfully evoking the river’s many moods and the lives of the people living there. Multi-layered and exquisitely written.

Set in the latter part of the 19th Century (post Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’) in a small rural community in Oxfordshire, it has a dramatic opening. On the winter solstice as locals gather at The Swan Inn for an evening of storytelling, the event is shattered by the appearance of an injured stranger bearing in his arms the corpse of a young girl. Yet hours later the child stirs and apparently comes back to life. Is it a miracle, magic or perhaps even science?

However, she does not seem able to speak and her identity remains uncertain. The story continues to explore the lives touched by this mystery.

Storytelling is an ongoing theme throughout the novel and Diane Setterfield demonstrates its cultural importance and her considerable skills as a weaver of tales.

I loved it and have pre-ordered the hardback as it is certainly a book that I want on my shelves to join my copies of her previous books. One that I am recommending widely, and plan to read again.

I adored this book! It was so beautifully written that I savoured every moment of reading it.. I don't usually like having a lot of different perspectives in a novel, but each character was so interesting in their own right that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story kept me hooked, as characters and their histories were slowly revealed, and the mix of folklore and the hints of the supernatural were a great counterpoint to the newly emerging science of the time.

This book had me gripped start to finish the story and characters where immersive and u are drawn into their story and you want to follow them into their world and find out what’s happening.
A book that I would recommend to most people as I think the story will call to all types of readers.
I will definitely re read again and again

Loved every minute of this fantastic book. Every character was beautifully drawn and fully formed. Even the River Thames was a huge part. It was like my favourite Sunday night drama - a warm and safe hug. There are not many books I'd give that high compliment to. Love, love, love it!

Gripping, beautifully written, enthralling tale of love and loss and magic.
I was hooked from page one and immersed in the winding story of the river people, their loves and losses, as if in the river itself.

The narrative meanders, like the river, then rushes together, combining the tributaries with a flow that is just sublime - whilst the mystery at the centre creates a fascination and a desire to follow where it leads.

Deeply personal, deeply emotional and a hint of magic!

I have added another writer to my list of favourite authors! Diane Setterfield is a brilliant storyteller, Once upon a River is a story full of intrigue and mystery with folklore and myths to enhance the reader's enjoyment.
The plot is paced to perfection, building up its twists and turns, giving the reader time to perhaps think "what might happen next". Her characters are well drawn, I felt sympathy and concern or apprehension and foreboding as the story unfolded. I was definitely hooked.
I thought her descriptions of the river and the floods were particularly good, she seems to know the river well. I can thoroughly recommend this book to any reader who enjoys a gripping - and pure escapism. Thank you Netgalley for such a treat.

Slow burning and beautiful, Setterfield’s fairy tale historical mystery is not to be missed. Don’t expect sudden reveals or racing plot, but settle in and enjoy the gradual unfolding of the plot which centres around The Swan Inn on a fictional river Thames in an unspecified time. Beautiful prose that like so many aspects of the [plot, straddles the line between the magical and the mundane. There’s magic in everything if you know how to look. Really lovely.

The Swan Inn is a riverside pub full of tradition, a place where stories are told and retold on cold winter nights. The Swan is owned by Margot Ockwell, married to Joe Bliss - a champion storyteller - and they have raised twelve daughters, each named “Little Margot” by the patrons of the Inn.

The novel begins on the night of the winter solstice where this cosy pub gets shattered by a strange man, severely injured carrying a rag doll. The ragdoll turns out to be a little girl, dead on arrival. Or is she?

This strange little girl seems to miraculously come back to life and to add fuel to the gossip fires, it looks like she is claimed by two different families as their lost daughter.

The Vaughn’s lost their little girl 2 years ago and in this time, Mrs Vaughn has slowly died every day. Her husband is overjoyed at the spark that the little girl brings back into his wife’s eyes and will do anything to keep it that way.

And then there is Robin Armstrong, the wayward son of Robert and Bess Armstrong. He seems to not care about this little girl but wants to claim her none the less. Robert and Bess are not blind to their son’s faults. Especially Bess with her weird eye she keeps hidden under an eyepatch because once she looks at you with that odd eye she sees right into your soul.

There is a mystery to be solved, some hard truths to uncover and in the centre of everything is a little girl lost, a nurse and a photographer, and some really smart pigs.

The story has an unhurried meandering quality to it, sprinkled very lightly with magical realism. This is a character driven story that asks you to slow down a little, so you can fall under its spell.

Netgalley ARC: Expected UK publish date 19 January 2019

I was a big fan of this author already but am even bigger one after reading this!

I think we need more female Gothic fiction so this tale of a mysterious drowned girl who wakes from the dead to become the much loved subject of local stories was absolutely my style.

I love being taken on a slow journey never knowing who you're going to meet, creeping into the story with no gory shocks and just a splash of the supernatural. And Setterfield does this kind of magical saga SO well....

There were times when I felt this particular tale had sprawled a little too far but I didn't need to worry, like the storytellers described in the book the author kept drawing me in further. Just like river around which the story weaves you need to find the ebb and flow and just go along with it.

This is an absolutely spellbinding tale! It is the perfect combination of history and romance told in gorgeous prose that evokes the gothic feel of Victorian England with dashes or magic and science it’s the perfect read for a long winter night. I LOVED it!