I loved this book! Very unusual tale of a lost child, beautifully told and with a cast of unforgettable characters. Highly recommended.

A very unusual book, very charming and quite irresistible!
Everyone has a story to tell, and in The Swan, everybody does....then one night, something happens to give them the greatest, the strangest, the most unbelievable story of all! The story is a child who it appears everyone wants....but who’s is she, and where did she come from?

I've loved all of Diane Setterfield's work but this was my favourite. A truly awesome piece of storytelling that I have been encouraging everyone to read. Some novel are about magic, some contain magic but this novel truly is magic! A master of the craft doing some of her best work. Unputadownable.

The Swan inn is famed for the quality of its storytellers but no story is as fantastical as the events that happen one evening when an injured stranger comes through the door carrying in his arms a dead child, hours later and the child is alive. Who are they? Well the man is easily identified but the child less so... Claimed by the rich Vaughan's as being their kidnapped daughter Amelia, by the son of a local farmer as being his daughter by his estranged wife and by a local housekeeper as being her long lost sister, the silent child keeps her secrets. Meanwhile the truth behind each claim is exposed.
This story started as a fairy tale and then developed even further into a sad and magical tale of love and loss. Each character is beautifully imagined with little personality quirks and a complete back story. I found myself getting lost in the tales of fortune-telling pigs and women scared of childbirth amongst others. This is sublimely gentle writing which also leaves its mark on the reader and at the heart is the River Thames, wild and calm, the keeper of all secrets.

Not Science, not a miracle but maybe magic. A wholly suspended reality, a fairytale woven around the River Thames in a time steeped in suspicion and superstition. I admired the juxtaposition of the revered storytellers of the Swan Inn plying their, yes, magic and mystery with the emerging artistry of Daunt's photography-the new 'science' - bringing with it a burst of emerging reality. This is an ode to a river and it's people in an age before now. Now, when everything has an explanation and we don't rest until we get one.
Thanks to Goodreads and Atria Books for the ARC.

This is a lovely book - it flows like the River Thames it follows. The stories and the characters each have their place and, although there is a mystery at the end, most of the plot lines tie up satisfactorily.

The greatest of yarns about yarns along the river. A great story of life along the river in which a man and a girl child come from the water into The Swan at Radcot. The child is dead the man not quite. Then something amazing happens and the girl joins the community, as does the man. Each person holds a place in the yarn, the story is very important to them. They practice their tale telling and help each other ensure that the story is the best it can be without being 'wrong'. Many people want the girl for themselves, there is something about her that makes people want to look after her and have her for their own. But who's child is she. Helena and Anthony Vaughan lost Amelia two years ago near the river and believe the girl is theirs. Robert and Bess Armstrong think that she is Alice, their son's lost girl. And Lily White thinks that she is her sister Ann. Where there are those that want only the best for the girl, there are other's who can see a way to make more for themselves out of her story and situation. Ultimately she is someone's girl, but everyone has to tell their story before we can hear the ending.
What a brilliant book, I found it really interesting and enjoyable to read. I really don't think I can criticise it at all.

Thankyou to NetGalley, the publishers and the author, Diane Setterfield, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Once Upon A River in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
What a beautifully written and thoroughly intriguing story. I was immersed from the start and loved the whole atmosphere of the plot and the characters.
Well worth a read.

On the night of the Winter solstice an injured man bursts through the doors of an old inn, in his arms he carries the body of a dead child. The gathered drinkers are shook by this event. A few hours later, the little girl returns to life, and thus begins an atmospheric, strange tale, full of history, discovery, science, family, heartache, and magic. It is a beautifully written narrative, although don't expect a gripping thriller. It's the sort of quiet novel that sneaks up on you, you don't realize just how far it has hooked you until you find yourself racing to the end to see how all of the characters have fared, and there are many characters. It is such a richly imagined world that you can almost smell the river and hear the characters voices as they spin their yarns.

So pleased to have been given the chance to read this book, thank you NetGalley and Doubleday. This was the first book I've read by this author, and as soon as I finished it I ordered 'The Thirteenth Tale', am very much looking forward to dipping into that, and hoping to have found a new favourite.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

I think the problem with a Diane Setterfield novel is expecting it to be as amazing and haunting as The Thirteenth Tale was. This is not that.

This is a very slow novel with a lot of scene setting and introducing lots of characters. There is a lot of depth to this novel - it just takes so looooooong to get there! However, I really enjoyed the last 30%. It's definitely worth a read - just don't expect too much if you've read and enjoyed Setterfield's debut.

Plot: The Swan on the upper banks of the river Thames is an ancient “storytelling” pub. On one midwinter’s night, a badly injured and drenched man bursts in holding the body of a little girl. It’s only a few hours later that the girl takes a breath and is, once again, alive. This is a twisting tale of folklore and storytelling that crosses the genres of fantasy, reality and history.

My thoughts: I absolutely adored Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, a book I read in 2017 and wish I’d written, so I was really excited about this new one. The cover is only the first gorgeous thing about this book which mixes beautiful writing alongside a twisting and turning story. The style was quite unusual – rather than focusing on one character, the storyline flits between different viewpoints and characters – a true ancient storytelling method with no one real narrator, and sometimes an external narrator too. It was a gorgeous read, though a little slow at times – this gave you opportunity to enjoy the storytelling but if you prefer a fast-paced read, you won’t find that here.

What an amazing read. A proper story An incredibly well-written story that totally absorbs you into every single page. One of those books you never want it to end. I cannot recommend this book enough..

I doubt anyone who knows me at this point wonders what my opinions about this book are. I absolutely loved this one with all my heart. In fact, now that I am looking over my notes and reading over my favourite parts of the book again for this review, I am thinking of bumping up the rating from 4.5 to 5. Yeah, that’s how much I really enjoyed it.

The story mostly revolves around an inn called The Swan, one night a stranger comes in with a dead child in his arms, the man himself injured and just about ready to faint. The child is declared dead by the people in the pub and even the nurse they bring in thinks that the child is dead however later, the child is alive. That mystery is not the only one to solve in the book, there’s the question of where the child came from, who are her real parents for there are many claims from couples around the place.

This story is filled with interesting characters and it’s heavily dependent on the characters rather than the plot itself. There’s never a shocking revelation at any given point nor is there a twist you might not see coming because it is not that kind of book. This story also features the Thames as a character itself, it’s given such an important part in the tale then there’s the fact that it’s always a wonder what people can do with stories given half a chance. There’s magical touch to it all and it’s quiet and not obvious but I loved it all the same.

Overall, there’s so much to love about this book and very little to dislike, hence my very fangirly review. Do read it if you loved anything of Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden. There’s everything for everyone in this one.

Excellent and well written book on 19th century mystery. Enjoyed the read with many twists and turns with surprising ending.

This book was a slow burn which is appropriate given the subject matter. The story wends its way into your consciousness like the Thames wending its way through the land linking the lives along its banks. I particularly enjoyed the story of Daunt and Rita Sunday, but the mystery of the girl dead then alive, is she Alice or is she Amelia? I found that all a bit too magical realism for my tastes. That said it began to be more explained towards the end. A lryical read which others will love, and it talks with love about the natural world and the historical era , there is stuff to learn here.

This is a beautifully written tale, lyrical and atmospheric. With everything winding around the river. I really enjoyed this and the confusing names are all worth persevering with.
I was given a ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own,

I really enjoyed Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. Reminiscent of Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpant it is a story that reviolves around local superstition and gossip. Like the regulars in The Swan who entertain themselves by telling and re telling stories so Setterfield has brought us a tale based on both superstition and fact. Highly recommended

A complicated story that wends its way through the book, ebbing and flowing with the Thames. Full of tales and folklore told by those who live and work by the river, I did find the plot a bit confusing at times with three girls whose names begin with A all presumed missing

Almost epic, this weaves magic and community with the ever present river, and while long kept me enthralled throughout

This book was easy to get into and it was enjoyable. I really liked a few of the characters and was rooting for a happy ending for them i gave this book 5 stars on goodreads as it was easy to follow along and i found i got invested in the story i would of read it in one sitting but real life got in the way . A book i would definitely recommend and will definitely keep an eye out for more works by this author. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book for a review its a bit late but didnt realise i had been approved till i went on and saw it on my bookshelf and am very happy i was able to.