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Hardcover, 480 pages
Published December 4th 2018 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
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 on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.
Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle?
Is it magic?
Or can it be explained by science? (Taken from Goodreads)
Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle?
Is it magic?
Or can it be explained by science? (Taken from Goodreads)
My Thoughts…
I’ve heard so many things about this book, so I picked it up hoping that it lived up to all that was said. There were many times I took a deep breath and thought oh yea, this is all that and so much more. I am new to Diane Setterfield so I was also excited to read a new to me author. Happily, I can now say that I am a fan and Diane is a must-read author.
Once Upon a River is a slow burn story. There is a lot of description of the towns, the river, the surrounding areas, and the people. For me, that brought the story to life and made it more enjoyable as I was able to picture what I was reading about, hear the voices of the characters, and hear the sounds of the area. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and at the beginning I did have to go back and look at previous paragraphs to be sure I was keeping straight who was who but as I continued reading the characters all came together, I was easily able to keep straight who was who, and it was fun to see how they all came together to complete the story.
The story, oh my… I was so caught up in it that I spent an entire Saturday just sitting and reading it. There was no hope that I would be stopping until I finished the entire book. There is magic, there is love, there is family, and there is a mystery all woven together to make a wonderful story. I felt a pull of the paranormal which just put it closer to being one of my favorites. While it is still early in 2019 I can see this becoming a book that I talk about throughout the year. It very well could make it into my best of 2019 list and is a book that I will recommend over and over again.
Diane Setterfield is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Tale, and a former academic, specializing in twentieth-century French literature, particularly the works of Andre Gide. She lives in Oxford, England.
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