Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield - Restarting November 4th 2020

[Karen]

Please feel free to join us in this one. Read through at your own pace.

[Andrea]

Can I just say, I absolutely love this cover! Sad the UK version isn't the same. I mean, the action (or part of it) takes place in the Swan Inn by the Thames river - how clever is that cover?

[Karen]

I’ve only seen one other cover. I think it’s the Spanish one-very dull. Loved the sound of this when I saw it on NetGalley.

[Andrea]

Karen wrote: "I’ve only seen one other cover. I think it’s the Spanish one-very dull. Loved the sound of this when I saw it on NetGalley."
UK one is similar to this one, but it's just a river, not a swan's neck. It's still pretty, but for me doesn't compare to the US version.

[Karen]

Andreea wrote: "Karen wrote: "I’ve only seen one other cover. I think it’s the Spanish one-very dull. Loved the sound of this when I saw it on NetGalley."
UK one is similar to this one, but it's just a river, not ..."

Agreed, the US cover seems to be more in keeping with the general idea of the novel.

[Andrea]

A Well-Practised Tale (20%)
Really enjoying it so far. There is something about the writing that I really love, but I don't know how to describe it. Not quite fairy-tale-like, but along those lines, perhaps.

Very intriguing plot, I do like a bit of mystery! After this chapter, I can see how the puzzle pieces fit together (at least, I think I can, might be wrong).

I will hazard a guess that (view spoiler)[Robin kidnapped Amelia for the ransom. The torn letter would then refer to her, and Robin's thieving character has been established already. Did she escape? Did Henry rescue her from her kidnappers (and then the river)? Did they try to kill her? Or am I just jumping to the wrong conclusions? (hide spoiler)]

[Andrea]

Is It Finished? (35%)
(view spoiler)[This is getting more and more interesting now that there are hints at supernatural elements.
I'm still suspecting Robin, but could be completely wrong. His story was definitely not very believable.
I can't see how Lily fits in yet, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Andrea]

The Genie in the Teapot (60%)
(view spoiler)[Aha! So that's how Maud the sow ended up with Lily!
I still don't understand Lily's story, but then again, I might not understand most of what's happening!
I'm really curious to see if the mystery will have more of a supernatural solution. I certainly hope so.
Oh, and Robert Armstrong is such a wonderful character! (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole]

Starting this book today-- I have a copy of it from Netgalley that I need to read and review.

[Karen]

Hi Nicole, I’ve got behind as I got caught up in another BR. Looking forward to this.

[Karen]

9% - like Rita’s introduction, and I’m a little surprised by the miraculous awakening of the dead child. This story feels like it will meander and move all over the place. The Swan Inn is well-depicted.

[Andrea]

Retelling the Story (72%)
Ok, I was not expecting that! (view spoiler)[So they'd actually killed Amelia when they kidnapped her... All this time I was convinced Alice and Amelia were the same girl.
Interesting, very interesting. (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole]

Chapter 6

(view spoiler)[I'm liking this book so far, even though I'm only about 15 percent done with it. I'm curious to know whether the river is magical or not, since the book is listed as magical realism on here. How did the girl come to life, and why did the people at the Swan Inn think that she was a doll? Maybe she really was a doll? I also like the fact that this inn is a place for storytelling. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Up to ch7. So many bits to this. The shift to before the arrival is interesting, and I feel the pieces of this puzzle will leave me scratching my head awhile.

[Andrea]

Finished
I really liked it, it kept me guessing the whole way through.
(view spoiler)[I really liked how everything came together in the end and that it did have a supernatural element after all (although slightly put into question by the gypsy story) - loved that part and really loved that Ben found Alice and they made it back to the farm! (hide spoiler)]
Going to go see the author on her UK book tour and now I'm really intrigued to read The Thirteenth Tale too!

[Karen]

Up to ch10. Needing to really concentrate on this-it feels elusive, as if there’s details I need to pay attention to though I can’t tell what they are.

[Nicole]

Part 2, Chapter 7

(view spoiler)[This book totally slowed down, didn't it? And I'm getting completely lost too because of all the different points of view, though I don't think at this point that it switches around as fast as it did earlier. I liked the chapters that all ended with the phrase "Something bad is going to happen"-- I thought the use of repetition was really cool there. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Part one - a rather drawn-out process. Seemed to take a long time to establish who the girl was and I still don’t think it’s clear. Wonder where this will move to now.

[Karen]

Part two - I can definitely see how the drawn-out meandering style will alienate some readers. There are some characters I’m more interested in than others.

[Karen]

End of part three. A rather more eventful fair than was imagined!

[Karen]

End of part four. In some hands this would have been a far more dramatic story, but part four really brings home the quality of the slow reveal.

[Karen]

Finished. Review on home page. I am somewhat bemused - did this happen? Is it just a clever story? Or is the ambiguity the point?

[Nicole]

Part 4, Chapter 8

(view spoiler)[The part with the wishing well and how your heart stops must have something to do with the child found in the river and how everyone thought she was dead— but how did it happen to her in the first place? Did someone put her in the river purposely? And who is this girl anyways: Is she Amelia or the other child? Or someone else entirely? I can’t wait to finish this book so that the mystery can be solved. (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole]

Finished

(view spoiler)[That ending blew me away! I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could. I loved the fact that the girl shows up at the end and that you start to question whether the whole year with her at the Swan really happened or not. Maybe she was dead the whole time?
The mysteries were (mostly) solved and the book wrapped itself up extremely well. I'm glad that Ben and Alice came back and that they have a loving home now. (hide spoiler)]

I loved this book. The middle was kind of slow for me, but the ending made up for it.

[Mandy]

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Date changed. Restarting November 4th 2020. Happy Reading ☺

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[Mandy]

I'm on about Ch 6 of this book now and really enjoying it. There hasn't been much out-and-out magic so far but there's something very wistful and enchanting about the narrative style somehow. I love that thing in the first few chapters where the idea of having a "story" to tell somehow changed the lives of the men in the bars somehow, or in the case of that one dude, made him appreciate the things around him that he had seen a thousand times over but never really properly looked at.

I also really liked Ch 5 about Tributaries, and what it might be saying about stories - not just stories in books but all our stories, how it's like a river that has countless tributaries contributing to it, and how it might also one day feed into a bigger river. That's a really nice thought!

[Mandy]

Ch 16: really, really liking this so far. There's a mystery at the heart of this story, but what's been driving me forward is how the writing is so, so good. I find that I deliberately slow my reading down just so I can get every detail - and I'm an impatient reader most of the time. It's not even that there is so much detail or that the plot is crazy complex or anything; in fact, everything is pretty easy to understand, but there's something about the writing that makes you want to slow down.

Right now where I'm at, I get the sense that we're being introduced to different seemingly unconnected stories at first, and then we see how they converge - just like tributaries joining up into a river. There's some masterful story-crafting going on and I'm here for it.

[Mandy]

end of Ch 23: Robin Armstrong is so (view spoiler)[annoying... He's really sketchy and suspicious, and I feel like he's engineering something that may be at the heart of this mystery here (hide spoiler)]

[Mandy]

end of Ch 30 (Great Lakes Underground): Honestly can't tell whether I dislike (view spoiler)[Robin Armstrong or Victor Nash (hide spoiler)] more. I'm wishing all kinds of horrible ends for them.

[Mandy]

And I'm done with this one! Very beautiful read and I enjoyed it a lot. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Neha]

checking in quickly to say that I might be late starting this!