Going with FLNickyTHEOW
DIANE SETTERFIELD’S MEANDERING TALE IS ONE TO APPRECIATE AT LEISURE
If you’ve never read this author’s first novel, The Thirteenth Tale, you’ve missed a treat and should definitely get your hands on a copy – it’s one of my all-time favourites. Her latest book, Once Upon a River, is perhaps less of an obvious reader-pleaser. Curious and atmospheric, it’s a story that pulls you in gently, mystifies and, very soon, enthrals.
It is set along a stretch of the River Thames in Oxfordshire. On a midwinter night in the 1800s the locals are gathered at the Swan Inn as usual, telling stories and drinking.
The door swings open and on the threshold is an injured man, soaking wet and clutching the body of a drowned child he has plucked from the river.
As local nurse Rita Sunday says a prayer over the body of the little girl, she opens her eyes and comes back to life.
Word of this wonder spreads and more than one family comes to claim the child who has drowned and lived again.
Who does she belong to?
The Vaughans, whose daughter was kidnapped? The Armstrongs, whose granddaughter is missing? Or could she be Lily White’s younger sister?
The little girl never speaks but remains fascinated by the river, and everyone who meets her seems to be drawn to her.
The plot of this novel meanders, twists and turns, and flows quietly, very like the river at its centre.
It is rich in detail, with many characters and side stories that interweave as the tale continues. Magical at times, heartbreaking at others, it has the feel of a fairytale or folklore.
It’s not fast-paced by any means. You have to be prepared to be transported into its world and carried along, which is why Once Upon a
River is my pick for holiday reading – it really deserves time to be savoured.
Beautifully written, strange and mysterious, this novel is a wonderful read and a real joy to experience.