Julie's Review: Once Upon a River

Author: Diane Setterfield
Series: None
Publication Date:December 4, 2018
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books/Atria
Pages: 480
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Folklore
Rating: 3.5/5
Bottom Line: Gorgeously written but in the end I don't think her books are for me
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary:  On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed. Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless. Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison, stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known. ~amazon.com

Review: Here's the thing, I read The Thirteenth Tale a couple years ago and I didn't love it like everyone else. The summary for Once Upon a River sounded so intriguing that I figured I'd give her another go.

This book transports you to towns along the Thames River in an Ancient time and it captures you. The river and its mysteries seep into your soul. You can clearly picture the inn and the people within. Along with the girl who appears dead but who is not. It follows her story through the eyes of the people who love her, who rescued her and her need her. 

While Ms. Setterfield knows how to tell a tale, it took too long for this reader to get to point where it really seemed to take off. I definitely appreciate setting the atmosphere, telling a tale and drawing the reader in but for this reader it didn't connect. I really wanted to love it because so many did. Maybe my initial reading of her debut should have told me we weren't going to connect but I do believe in 2nd chances.

If you love mysterious, gothic, folklore novels then this one is for you.

  Google+

Julie's Review: The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield
Series: None
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Publisher: Washington Street Press
Pages: 432
Obtained: borrowed from a friend
Genre:  Gothic
Rating: 3.5/5
Bottom Line: Underwhelming
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny. All children mythologize their birth... So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist. The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself — all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission. As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life. ~powells.com

Review: The Thirteenth Tale is a book that people seem to love but unfortunately I am not in that category. I was completely underwhelmed by the novel. I figured out aspects of the story early on and by the time she pulled out the big twist, I just didn't care.  It's not to say that Ms. Setterfield doesn't know how to set the tone and atmosphere of a novel because she certainly does. One of the things I enjoyed was her description of Angelfield both past and present. I felt like I could see the stately house both as it was when the twins were living there and now as a ruins.

I don't always feel like I have to connect  with the characters but I should either connect with them or be engrossed in their tale but I wasn't. I wasn't sure if Miss Winter was really going to be telling the truth to Margaret or if she was just going to lead her on a wild goose chase as well. Margaret was fighting her own demons as well. She has been keeping a secret from her parents and her parents have been keeping a secret from her. It would have all been easier for all of them if they would have just been honest.

My favorite character in the novel was Aurelius. Once introduced in the novel, I knew he would be an integral part of the story. I also feel like he was the one who got hurt the most and while he might have answers now, he'll never fully recover from the losses he has endured.

If you are into Gothic tales, then this one will definitely interest you but if I had to pick another Gothic tale to read again it would be Kate Morton's The Distant Hours.


 Google+