---
product_id: 130210244
title: "Once Upon a River"
brand: "diane setterfield"
price: "€ 30.58"
currency: EUR
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.fr/products/130210244-once-upon-a-river
store_origin: FR
region: France
---

# Once Upon a River

**Brand:** diane setterfield
**Price:** € 30.58
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Once Upon a River by diane setterfield
- **How much does it cost?** € 30.58 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fr](https://www.desertcart.fr/products/130210244-once-upon-a-river)

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- diane setterfield enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted diane setterfield brand quality
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## Description

Once Upon a River

## Images

![Once Upon a River - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RsNBOFhQL.jpg)
![Once Upon a River - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-csfpFZuL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    This will go on my best-of-the-year list
  

*by S***N on Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2018*

Brief summary and review, no spoilers.This fantastic story begins at the Swan, an inn located on the bank of the Thames. (Or perhaps it isn’t the Thames?) We do know it is the night of the winter solstice but we don’t know what year. You see, everything  is deliberately a little vague as in any good fairy tale or myth; its meaning and relevance being universal and timeless.When we start the book we soon learn the  good folks at the Swan all love to tells stories, with each person trying to outdo the other. Their night is interrupted when an obviously large but injured man falls into the Swan carrying a lifeless little girl.The very skilled and beloved nurse Rita is called in to help. She is able to stitch up and save the man but the little girl seems dead. But then, surprising everyone, it turns out she isn’t.I don’t want to give much more away; it’s so much better and more fun  finding out what happens next as the author intended - but I will say that there are several people in the village and just beyond who have an interest in this little girl and believe she belongs to them. Their motivations often as confusing to us the readers as it is to them. Most of these people are of good heart and most all seem to love her.It is only at the end that most of our questions are answered.I took over a week to read this book - I normally would read it in a day but I was so in love with it that I would read a few chapters and stop; it’s that good and I didn’t want it to be over. Whenever I picked it up and started reading I was completely transported to this mythic, wonderful place populated with the most wonderful characters. I didn’t want to leave, at the same time I desperately wanted to know what happened next,It’s not important for me to have to like a character to like a book, but in this case you find yourself rooting for and caring about so many of them. Each character is so three-dimensional and the dialogue so spot and and often funny. Quirky in the best way.The story itself is marvelous, but it’s the wonderful prose that makes this book one of my favorites. I have dog-earred so many pages (if I threw it across the room I think it might fly) because I thought certain sentences or descriptions were so clever and evocative. I know a lot of people write well, but this was exceptional and I am definitely going to go out and read her earlier books.Just an example of the writing - a description of the landlady of the Swan, followed by a passage that may give you a feel for the otherworldly essence of the book:“Margot was a handsome woman in her late fifties. She could lift barrels without help and had legs so sturdy, she never felt the need to sit down.”“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. The story of the marriage of Mrs. and Mrs. Armstrong was one of these latter ones, known only to the two parties to whom it belonged and the river. But as secret visitors to this world, as border crossers between one world and another, there is nothing to prevent us sitting by the river and opening our ears; then we will know it too.”I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is so filled with heart and wonderful characters - even the river becomes one. Every once in a while, when I finish a book and turn the final page, I will clutch the book and experience a “reader’s high” for lack of a better phrase. It’s the most wonderful feeling and I got it with this book.Recommended.

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Excruciatingly Slow Pace
  

*by F***A on Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2018*

This is the most long winded book I think I've ever read. It's been a long time since a book has given me feelings of dread every time I picked it up.Although I've never read a book by this author, I was nonetheless excited to dive into this one based on the rave reviews for not only this book but for Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. Not every author and/or book is for everybody and this one was certainly not my glass of chocolate milk.While the prose is without a doubt prolific, the story crawled at an excruciating pace with pages and pages of descriptive text. Some have commented that the prolonged details are necessary in the telling of the story, I humbly disagree. There are a ton of characters in this story and while they are all fleshed out to the nth degree, I didn't care about or relate to any of them.There is a lot of magic, as well religious undertones in this story, both of which turned me off immediately as I tend to steer clear of those subjects.I realize that I am in the tiniest of minority of people that feel this book fell way short of expectations while most every other reviewer fell in love with this book. I do not discourage readers from picking this one up for that reason alone.2 Stars for the writing ⭐⭐I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Read This Book!
  

*by Q***E on Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018*

I read about 2 books per week, so I have read a lot of books.  This one is special.  It is definitely on my Best of the Year list, and I strongly recommend it to everyone.  I see that some reviewers have listed the pace as "slow".  At first, when reading it, this book was hard to get into, but then I realized that the problem was ME.  The writing is so very good that it deserves more than little snatches of my reading time.  In reading it, I realized that I had become somewhat addicted to the little, 2 and 3 page chapters of many of today's books.  This one requires a bit more of the reader, but, in return, the reader is rewarded with a splendid story, a remarkable resolution, and some of the best writing that I have read all year.  Highly recommended.

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*Product available on Desertcart France*
*Store origin: FR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-12*