This is a fascinating tale of a tavern on the river, a tavern in which the visitors long to be told stories while they drink away their troubles. The best storyteller is the husband of the tavern’s owner, but he is not well himself. There is also his son Jonathan, who obviously suffers from Down’s Syndrome, although the malady is not named, just described. The author does a good job of making the reader feel that he/she is a part of the scene in the tavern. The mystery begins just at the end of the first look when a stranger comes in, almost dead from an apparent drowning and beating. In his arms is a little girl who most definitely is dead, although Jonathan won’t give up on her being alive. What makes the first look fascinating is the fact that it so reminds me of the fairy tales that I read as a child, and I want to know who the child is, what the man was doing in the river, and what will be the relationship between the child and Jonathan. The book pulls you in, just as a strong current of a river would!