A review by erincharp
Once Upon a River, by Diane Setterfield
5.0
Diane Setterfield's writing is just so, so lovely. It's the kind of prose that makes you feel her words in your heart.
On a cold night in an ancient inn along the Thames River, a man stumbles in badly injured carrying what is at first thought to be a doll in his arm. In time, it is revealed that the doll is the body of a young girl, one who comes back to life against all odds. Drawn together now are families missing children. One, who lost their daughter when she was two, presumably through kidnapping. The return of their beloved Amelia brings a spark back to their lives that they thought would never be seen again. Yet, there is also the Armstrong family, who swears she must be theirs, as well as a woman who works for the parsonage who believes this girl to be her sister who drowned so many decades ago. They all feel that this child can't quite be theirs, but yet, they also all insist she is. Setterfield weaves a beautiful, supernatural story about want and need and healing. I was hooked from page one.
On a cold night in an ancient inn along the Thames River, a man stumbles in badly injured carrying what is at first thought to be a doll in his arm. In time, it is revealed that the doll is the body of a young girl, one who comes back to life against all odds. Drawn together now are families missing children. One, who lost their daughter when she was two, presumably through kidnapping. The return of their beloved Amelia brings a spark back to their lives that they thought would never be seen again. Yet, there is also the Armstrong family, who swears she must be theirs, as well as a woman who works for the parsonage who believes this girl to be her sister who drowned so many decades ago. They all feel that this child can't quite be theirs, but yet, they also all insist she is. Setterfield weaves a beautiful, supernatural story about want and need and healing. I was hooked from page one.