Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Amy        
Lynnie     

historical fiction, fantasy

Once Upon a River tells the tale of people living along the Thames River as they find themselves involved in a mystery that is literally delivered to the local pub.

Amy's Review

This novel grabbed me from the start even though it’s not a fast-paced story.  Rather, it is, as the title suggests, like a ride down the river moving through the story with some stops along the way to see the sights.  I love it when a) a book title is appropriate/meaningful to the story and b) a book cover is appropriate/meaningful to the story.  This novel got it exactly right in both aspects!  Extra points for completely covering the theme at every curve in the tale.

The story telling (in a book *about* story telling) was well done. The main flaw was that there were a few scenes intended to be comic relief that were, indeed, humorous until they went on for too long. But, the rest of the tale was smartly crafted and engaging.  Truly lovable, unique characters, a creative conundrum, and successfully implemented multiple points of view sucked me in. I loved the way Diane Setterfield introduced us to so many characters, a few at a time, so that I had time to get to know each of them a bit and avoided being overwhelmed with all the players.  And, as with most tales that begin with “Once upon a time”, I love a happy ending.

The audiobook narrator, Juliet Stevenson, is excellent. She has a naturally deep voice and does excellent male voices!  A rarity! Fabulous voice acting!  Such a variety of voices with seeming ease of transition between them. Truly a master!  Very few people could do this and she’s the first woman I’ve heard to pull out such a huge cast of unique character voices. I’m SUPER impressed and give her an A+!

Lynnie's Review

I enjoyed the story of Once Upon a River but my sister is right- this story meanders just like the river that runs through the novel. It's only 400 pages but took me 2 weeks to read it and often felt like a much longer tome. I think it was because of this meandering approach to story-telling that I never felt a sense of urgency to finish the book. Ordinarily when I read I am so desperate to find out what happens that I read long past my bedtime; in this book however I was always content to read a chapter and put the book down for another day.

Still, I enjoyed the characters immensely and was taken by the community that Setterfield created. I was less interested in the mystery within the story than the characters themselves; I think I could have read an entire novel about Margot and the Swan, or the Vaughns, or the Armstrongs. I would like to know more about all of them & yet, I guess I know enough as they all resonated with me in one way or another.