A dead girl who isn’t dead, three families who claim her and the Thames in all it’s magical mystical glory – Once Upon A River
Once Upon A River – the blurb
It was the longest night of the year when the strangest of things happened . . .
On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames, the regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open and in steps an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a child.
Hours later, the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.
Is it a miracle?
Is it magic?
And who does the little girl belong to?
Let me tell you a story
The words ‘once upon a’ immediately make you think of fairytales and Setterfield conjures up that setting so brilliantly in this book. The storytelling from those at the Inn to the way Setterfield skips up and down the river is so evocative you feel like you can smell the watercress and feel the damp of the ever persisting current.
Folklore however is twisted around Darwinism, science and photography. How can a dead girl come back to life? How, in a word before DNA, can one prove a child is theirs? It was the perfect counterbalance for a book that could have so easily have carried away by Quietly (the Thames equivalent to Charon).
I found it spellbinding, just as much as I did The Thirteenth Tale also by Setterfield. I recommend you read them both if you haven’t already. Ideally the hardbacks as they are a thing of beauty. And who now wants to go explore the Thames secretly hoping they will stumble upon the Inn?
