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monetp 's review for:
Once Upon a River
by Diane Setterfield
The perfect magical realism read! It opened my eyes to how much I love this genre.
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I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys other magical realism books such as [b:Winter's Tale|12967|Winter's Tale|Mark Helprin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442048864l/12967._SY75_.jpg|1965767], [b:All the Crooked Saints|30025336|All the Crooked Saints|Maggie Stiefvater|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500451773l/30025336._SY75_.jpg|50430647], [b:Lincoln in the Bardo|29906980|Lincoln in the Bardo|George Saunders|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492130850l/29906980._SX50_.jpg|50281866] and [b:Her Body and Other Parties|33375622|Her Body and Other Parties|Carmen Maria Machado|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485266434l/33375622._SX50_.jpg|54116423]. "Once Upon a River" reminded me the most of "Winter's Tale" as the flowery language was almost exactly the same and the characters were equally as romantic. Even though the plots are dissimilar, the endings are both bittersweet and open-ended.
The most important characters of this novel isn't a person. It's the river and that's such an exciting concept. The pure originality of this story is evident from page one all the way to the end. It's like a grown up fairytale but with more detail and mature themes. The setting was so perfectly formed that I lost myself in this strange place. I felt that I was walking to the Swan with Rita, floating on Daunt's photography boat, grieving with Helena, healing with the Armstrongs and working hard alongside Lily. [a:Diane Setterfield|22665|Diane Setterfield|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1533836832p2/22665.jpg] captured the essence and personality of each character to such a degree that it felt as if each character had their own book.
There is a subtle darkness to each chapter. Underlining the initial hopefulness and astonishment is fear. In this fairytale, not everything is happy all the time. The numerous conflicts held my attention throughout the 500 odd pages. The plot continues to deepen, but it refrains from confusing the reader. I never felt lost or overwhelmed by so many characters and plot twists. Somehow it was easy to understand what was happening and remember the individual stories of each person.
The only aspect that confused and bothered me was the dragon subplot. It was mentioned only a few times but was never explored. It was mentioned but you can't just mention dragons are living nearby and then not explain it! It was inferred that these supposed dragons would play an important role in the ending but that didn't happen. Speaking of the ending, I love how all the mystery and magic was wrapped up. In a sense, the little girl was never real. The only remaining question once all the children were located was: why did this mystical child spend so long in the real world and how did she get there in the first place???
Favorite Quotes:
“There must be more to stories than you think.”
“A curtain was drawn back in every man's inner theater and their storytelling minds got to work.”
“On a summer day winter always seems like something you have dreamt or heard spoken of and not a thing you have lived.”
--
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys other magical realism books such as [b:Winter's Tale|12967|Winter's Tale|Mark Helprin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442048864l/12967._SY75_.jpg|1965767], [b:All the Crooked Saints|30025336|All the Crooked Saints|Maggie Stiefvater|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500451773l/30025336._SY75_.jpg|50430647], [b:Lincoln in the Bardo|29906980|Lincoln in the Bardo|George Saunders|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492130850l/29906980._SX50_.jpg|50281866] and [b:Her Body and Other Parties|33375622|Her Body and Other Parties|Carmen Maria Machado|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485266434l/33375622._SX50_.jpg|54116423]. "Once Upon a River" reminded me the most of "Winter's Tale" as the flowery language was almost exactly the same and the characters were equally as romantic. Even though the plots are dissimilar, the endings are both bittersweet and open-ended.
The most important characters of this novel isn't a person. It's the river and that's such an exciting concept. The pure originality of this story is evident from page one all the way to the end. It's like a grown up fairytale but with more detail and mature themes. The setting was so perfectly formed that I lost myself in this strange place. I felt that I was walking to the Swan with Rita, floating on Daunt's photography boat, grieving with Helena, healing with the Armstrongs and working hard alongside Lily. [a:Diane Setterfield|22665|Diane Setterfield|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1533836832p2/22665.jpg] captured the essence and personality of each character to such a degree that it felt as if each character had their own book.
There is a subtle darkness to each chapter. Underlining the initial hopefulness and astonishment is fear. In this fairytale, not everything is happy all the time. The numerous conflicts held my attention throughout the 500 odd pages. The plot continues to deepen, but it refrains from confusing the reader. I never felt lost or overwhelmed by so many characters and plot twists. Somehow it was easy to understand what was happening and remember the individual stories of each person.
The only aspect that confused and bothered me was the dragon subplot. It was mentioned only a few times but was never explored. It was mentioned but you can't just mention dragons are living nearby and then not explain it! It was inferred that these supposed dragons would play an important role in the ending but that didn't happen. Speaking of the ending, I love how all the mystery and magic was wrapped up. In a sense, the little girl was never real. The only remaining question once all the children were located was: why did this mystical child spend so long in the real world and how did she get there in the first place???
Favorite Quotes:
“There must be more to stories than you think.”
“A curtain was drawn back in every man's inner theater and their storytelling minds got to work.”
“On a summer day winter always seems like something you have dreamt or heard spoken of and not a thing you have lived.”