Setterfield, Diane. Once Upon a River. New York: John Murray 2018. Print
First Sentences:
There was once an inn that sat peacefully on the bank of the Thames at Radcot, a day's walk from the source. .
There were a great many inns along the upper reaches of the Thames at the time of this story and you could get drunk in all of them, but beyond the usual ale and cider each one had some particular pleasure to offer.....The Swan at Radcot had its own specialty. It was where you went for storytelling.
Description:
What greater pleasure is there than to have a captivating story read aloud to you? Witness the popularity of audio books and parents curling up with young children and a book. There's just something about a skilled storyteller delivering a well-practiced narration that totally pulls you into a dreamy world of mythical environment, strong characters and intriguing plot. Think of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the best examples of novels that beg to be read aloud.
Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River joins the ranks of such an oral history. The novel is written as if we readers are listening to the words and descriptions of a great storyteller who narrates and embellishes each scene to heighten the feeling of mystery and fantasy. You get the feeling that this story has been told and re-told over many years by storytellers who coaxed and changed words and descriptions to achieve a smoothness of a terse narration that achieves the most impact on listeners.
As to the plot for Once Upon a River? Well, it takes place in the 19th century, primarily in the lands and people who frequent the Swan of Radcot tavern in England on the Thames River. Taverns in those days had specialties (fighting, food, games, song, etc.). The Swan was known for storytelling, and boy, do the patrons have a story to discuss, argue about, tweak, and re-tell countless times.
Late one night, an unfamiliar child is carried into the Swan by a man wet and severely injured as if he survived a terrible boating accident. The child is unmarked and clearly dead (no breathing,no heartbeat, nearly frozen from being in the river). But later that night, the child stirs and comes back to life. How? Why? And who is she?
Could she be the child kidnapped four years ago from the wealthy neighborhood family who quickly take the child home with them? Or is she the daughter of a woman found dead by suicide in a nearby boarding house? While the girl resembles these children, there are some doubts that she is who they think she is. Because she has never spoken a word, the uncertainty remains and the stories abound.
Setterfield drops us into The Rose and its locals so we can hear and observe them ponder this mysterious girl and her circumstances, and tell their own stories to explain this miraculous return to life. We readers become listeners, like quiet bystanders overhearing various tales and watching them on their adventures to try to unravel the story behind the girl and find her rightful place in the world.
The river plays a major role throughout this story, and thus the writing about it is particularly full of imagery and emotions:
Fred
Late one night, an unfamiliar child is carried into the Swan by a man wet and severely injured as if he survived a terrible boating accident. The child is unmarked and clearly dead (no breathing,no heartbeat, nearly frozen from being in the river). But later that night, the child stirs and comes back to life. How? Why? And who is she?
Could she be the child kidnapped four years ago from the wealthy neighborhood family who quickly take the child home with them? Or is she the daughter of a woman found dead by suicide in a nearby boarding house? While the girl resembles these children, there are some doubts that she is who they think she is. Because she has never spoken a word, the uncertainty remains and the stories abound.
Setterfield drops us into The Rose and its locals so we can hear and observe them ponder this mysterious girl and her circumstances, and tell their own stories to explain this miraculous return to life. We readers become listeners, like quiet bystanders overhearing various tales and watching them on their adventures to try to unravel the story behind the girl and find her rightful place in the world.
The river plays a major role throughout this story, and thus the writing about it is particularly full of imagery and emotions:
- There was no idle splashing [of the river] on the way, only the purposeful surge forwards, and behind the high-pitched ringing of water on shingle at the river's edge was a king of hum, the sort you would expect to hear inside your ears after a bell has been struck by a hammer and the audible ringing has died away. It had the shape of noise but lacked the sound, a sketch without color.
- It is a good thing to be solo on the river. There is freedom. You are neither in one place nor the other, but always on the move, in between. You escape everything and belong to no one.
- It was better to tell such stories close to the river than in a drawing room. Words accumulate indoors, trapped by walls and ceilings. The weight of what has been said can lie heavily on what might yet be said and suffocate it. By the river the air carries the story on a journey: one sentence drifts away and makes room for the next.
There are stories that may be told aloud, and stories that must be told in whispers, and there are stories that are never told at all.Happy reading.
Fred
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Setterfield, Diane The Thirteenth Tale.
A reclusive author of twelve famous stories decides to reveal, in her old age, the story of her own life to a young biographer. What emerges are fascinating characters and ghosts of both women's pasts.
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