Wow! I’m so glad I picked this book up. I knew very little going into it and yet I was so impressed by the end. Setterfield has such masterful grasp of prose and language. Something about this book felt romantic (though there’s only a little in the way of an actual romance) and nostalgic. The way the river Thames is incorporated into the story gives the story such gravity.
Once Upon a River follows the story of a group of people who are all, in different ways, affected by the mysterious arrival of a possibly dead girl at the inn where they congregate.
It’s at once thrilling, heartwarming, hopeful and saddening. It’s very difficult for me to get attached to characters and feel their emotions the way it’s describe but I had no trouble with Setterfield’s work here. Her characters are rich, imaginative and natural. They feel both real and made up, which I think fits the theme of the story so well.
Once Upon a River follows the story of a group of people who are all, in different ways, affected by the mysterious arrival of a possibly dead girl at the inn where they congregate.
It’s at once thrilling, heartwarming, hopeful and saddening. It’s very difficult for me to get attached to characters and feel their emotions the way it’s describe but I had no trouble with Setterfield’s work here. Her characters are rich, imaginative and natural. They feel both real and made up, which I think fits the theme of the story so well.