Once Upon a River
The spellbinding Sunday Times bestseller
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4.3 • 250 Ratings
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
'I was completely spellbound' - Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things
'Setterfield is a master storyteller' - Madeline Miller, author of Circe
Some say the river drowned her... Some say it brought her back to life
On a dark midwinter's night in an ancient inn on the Thames, the regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open and in steps an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a child.
Hours later, the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle?
Is it magic?
And who does the little girl belong to?
An exquisitely crafted historical mystery brimming with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Victorian age.
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Praise for Diane Setterfield:
'An absolute feast of a book, which will keep you engrossed' RED magazine
'Brimming with folklore, intrigue and romance, this is a story to savour' Woman & Home
'Once Upon a River continues to demonstrate [Setterfield's] mastery of the Gothic genre in a way that will appeal to modern readers' The Independent
Readers are captivated by Once Upon a River:
***** 'Pure escapism, a beautifully written story.'
***** 'It felt as comforting as the fantastical stories you read as a child yet with a darker edge.'
***** 'I was entranced from the beginning to the end.'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale) braids miracle and mystery in this marvelous tale set in the upper reaches of the Thames at the end of the 19th century. The story begins on a winter solstice night, when a gravely injured man stumbles into the Swan inn at Radcot and collapses. While the local nurse, Rita Sunday, is being summoned, the innkeeper's son discovers that the large puppet the man was carrying is a little girl who at first appears to have drowned. After tending to the unconscious man, Rita turns her attentions to the child, who, stunningly, returns to life. The tale of the dead-then-alive girl travels throughout the night, and, in the morning, three parties arrive to claim her: Lily White, housekeeper to the parson, identifies the child as her sister Ann, despite the age difference; Robert Armstrong, a prosperous farmer, believes the girl to be the child of his absent son, Robin; and Helena and Anthony Vaughan hope that she might be their daughter, Amelia, kidnapped two years before. Setterfield's characters attempt to puzzle out the child's identity. By combining flavors of some of Britain's very best writers a hint of Austen's domestic stories, a tinge of Tolkien's more folkloric elements, and a dash of mystery from Christie Setterfield has created a tale not to be missed.
Customer Reviews
A great read
This book had me totally engrossed in the mysterious happenings. I loved it .
Not to be rushed
This book is beautiful and one you most take time over and appreciate a changing landscape and changing lives of those who live it, the characters I thought didn’t matter so much initially, ended up being those who mattered the most. Beautiful and calm and magical but realistic
Fluent!
A story full of new folklore and river-weed entanglements of pathetic fallacy. It is superbly written.