The cover, the setup, and the description of Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield are beautifully atmospheric. The writing creates a vivid visual of this place - the inn and the river - and a sense of isolation. The book creates a sense of something coming - an impending revelation or climax. However, for me that never happens. To some extent, the book describes itself. "Something happens and then something else happens and then all sorts of other things happen, expected and unexpected, unusual and ordinary." The pacing of the book is very slow, particularly since it does not build to a dramatic conclusion. The book seems to slowly wander and meander through the story as the river does through the countryside.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/12/once-upon-river.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/12/once-upon-river.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.