Tuesday 19 February 2019

REVIEW: Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield




Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism


Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

ISBN: 0385663323

Format: Hardback, Paperback, E-Book,
Audio-Book

Release Date: 4th December 2018


Links: Goodreads, Amazon.com, Indigo,
B&N, Book Depository


Synopsis:

Solstice is a time of dreaming, a time of stories and a time of magic.

On a dark, misty night in the small English village of Radcot, locals gather at the Swan Inn to cap their day with drinks and lore. The 600-year-old pub is a famed hub for storytellers, but the patrons cannot know that their evening will be stranger than any tale they could weave. Into the inn bursts a mysterious man, sopping and bloodied and carrying an unconscious four-year-old girl. But before he can explain who he and the child are, and how they came to be injured, he collapses.

Upriver, two families are searching desperately for their missing daughters. Alice Armstrong has been missing for twenty-four hours, ever since her mother's suicide. And Amelia Vaughn vanished without a trace two years prior. When the families learn of the lost little girl at the Swan Inn, each wonders if their child has at last been found. But identifying the child may not be as easy as it seems.







Review:


**Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for sending
me a copy of the book in return for my honest review**



This is the first book by Diane Setterfield that I have read. After reading the synopsis I couldn't wait to start reading, and I ended up not being able to put the book down.

The story takes place along the river bank of a fictional river Thames. It follows many characters, and mostly takes place at The Swan Inn. People have gathered to share stories when, one night, a mysterious man appear carrying a child.

The mystery behind the arrival of the man and the dead child (who later comes alive again) was done fantastically. The book felt very eerie and haunting at times and I loved it.

There are many different characters to follow in this book, and although it took me a little while to get familiar with them all, I ended up loving all the characters. The author did a fantastic job at having the characters connect with one another and I loved reading about all of them.

Diane Setterfield portrayed many different themes throughout the book and the portrayal of parenthood was done fantastically. The fear, worry and suffering of losing your child makes the characters seem much more realistic and emotional.

I loved the writing, descriptions and how the story came together at the end. The many twists in the story had me captivated. The book is slow paced but I feel that it worked really well for this book and it helped flow the story together really beautifully. The multiple different storylines come together to tie up loose ends and bring the book to an enchanting end.

This story was told beautiful. The pages flowed together to create a book that I just couldn't put down. I'd love to read more of Diane Setterfield's work and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.


No comments:

Post a Comment