Diane Setterfield

Fiction 2018 | 465 pages

I think the writing is superb, from a logophile's perspective ... words are beautifully and thoughtfully used by Ms. Setterfield.

And the story is unusual.  It opens with a man entering the Swan Inn tavern with a young girl in his arms, who seems by all accounts to be dead, but mysteriously and miraculously awakens a few hours later. We are in a village along the Thames River, and the year is 1887.

Once Upon a River is about three families — the Vaughans, the Armstrongs and Lilly White — who have each lost a young girl from their lives, and who hope this is the daughter, sister, or granddaughter they lost.

The book begins with a lot of exposition — strong character development, explorations of towns, families and locations, backgrounds, cities, locations and families, etc. and introductions of new plot lines.  Each chapter ends in a cloud of mystery and each new chapter seems to introduce a new set of characters and plot lines.  There is a blurring of fantasy and reality, but it is rather muddied and unresolved, I believe.

So, good writing and good plot.  Why only two hearts? It was a slog to get through the 465 pages of this book.  I am not exactly sure why, but I think it is because the story develops ever-so-slowly.  I made it through Once Upon a River, but I cannot recommend it.  The story simply plods.

November 2023