Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield [Family Reads]

Posted 29 December 2023 in family reads /2 Comments

*Born out of a desire to get a family of book lovers to connect more over what they’re reading, Family Reads is an occasional feature where my mom, dad or sister and I read and discuss a book.*

Why we chose Diane Setterfield’s Once Upon a River

Mom and I have been struggling to choose a book for Family Reads for half of 2023. Mom would select a book, start reading it, and then decide it wasn’t a good fit. I would select a book, search the library catalogues for it, and find it was unavailable. Finally, December 1 came around. I decided to make an executive decision. I’ve completed only two Family Reads this year, one with Dad and one with my sister, so I still hoped to get one more in with Mom.

Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner came to the rescue with her post on books with “Immaculate Winter Vibes”. We are dreadfully short on snow around here, so I thought a wintry read would be a good fit to remind us of the season. The first book on the list caught my eye. The mysterious premise and the predominant setting of small town England in the 1880s appealed to me, and Mom enjoys historical fiction. Plus, there were plenty of copies available at the library! So I decreed, Once Upon a River is our selection for Family Reads this month.

On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.

Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.

Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison, stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.

Goodreads

Our Discussion 💬

**Discussion best enjoyed if you have already read the book – spoilers abound!**

Storytelling at The Swan

Mom and I both liked this book. For Mom, it took a little bit for her to get into. Once Mr. Armstrong came onto the scene, she found the story more engaging. For myself, I enjoyed the beginning because of the atmospheric inn and the narrative style, with its exploration of the storytelling tradition.

We both liked everything to do with the Swan. It’s a gathering hub the likes of which is hard to come by these days – a place of communication, where everyone learns about each other’s business. The respect for the art of storytelling delighted us. It was sweet how the storytellers were particular about stories were told within the Swan. They reviewed each other’s skill and make sure they all adhere to the traditions of good storytelling. I was a little worried early on that the Inn was just a framing device for the introduction. Once the story left that space, would it ever return? It did! The Swan is an anchor point throughout the novel.

Who is the Child?

My original theory was that the little girl was a changeling. I was not far off, but I did miss the theme, lol. Mom didn’t believe she belonged to any of the families, though she wasn’t sure whether she was a human girl. I theorized fairy involvement when different characters kept descring a small person who was clearly a villain. I thought the small nature was a clue that he was a goblin or some like. Mom at one point thought that clue was that the person was female and perhaps it was actually Lily?

The girl being water-enthralled made Mom think she was waiting for someone in the water to bring her back. This turned out to be spot on! For my part, that was why I thought the girl was a nymph or something of the sort. It became obvious in hindsight that the ferryman character, Quietly, conneced to her. I kicked myself for not realizing it earlier, haha. HE was the supernatural connection to the water! Not some fairies that a story steeped with storytelling and foklore never mentions…

Assorted Notes

The story eventually turns into a murder mystery – because (neverminding the appearance of the child for a moment) what actually happened to all three girls? We thought the story picked up quickly towards the end, once folks begin to reveal what they know and put other pieces together. There were parts that we had to read a second time because of the quick telling and revealing of information (such as Vaughn’s story explaining he knew Amelia was dead). A few smaller pieces tied up at the end helped bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, such as Ben showing up with Alice or Mrs Constantine being revealed to essentially just be a therapist.

We quite liked the narrative style and prose, plus all the characters were nice to read about. Well, perhaps we didn’t like Lily very much but she deserves a break. At first, I wasn’t sure how dark the story would be or what kind of atmosphere we were getting into, but very quickly I realized this would be the sort of story where mostly everybody is good (rather than sneaky, suspicious, grumpy, etc.) and trying their best, obvious villains excepted. Mom wasn’t sure, after the girl was found, if the story was going to become more of fairy tale mystical tale, but it goes quite straight onto the realistic grounded path of humanity.

Shortcoming

We can see why folks might not enjoy this book. It’s certainly a bit long winded. There are many threads of different characters, with many perspective changes. After the initial set up of the story, it becomes a little dry going as the three different families with a claim to the girl are introduced, and their backstories explored. While we were interested in reading about them, there were times when we wondered “When are we getting back to the heart of the story?” It was difficult initially to keep track of all the different characters. – especially with all the little girls whose names began with A!

Final Thoughts 💭

We both give this book ★★★½. I liked it quite a lot while reading but I don’t think I can highly or widely recommend it. Mom was in a reading rut when she started the book, so she had a hard going at the start. Overall, we recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction with a wide cast of characters and perspectives, who don’t mind reading a story where child endangerment and death is a key part of the plot.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield [Family Reads]

Why we chose Diane Setterfield’s Once Upon a River