I have a kindle version of this novel, but in the end I listened to the Audible version (narrated by Juliet Stevens). I have read The Thirteenth Tale, which I really enjoyed, but I think this one might be my favourite.
Here’s the blurb …
On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.
Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.
Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison, stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.
Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, the beginning of this novel will sweep you away on a powerful current of storytelling, transporting you through worlds both real and imagined, to the triumphant conclusion whose depths will continue to give up their treasures long after the last page is turned.
I was very invested in all of the characters (maybe not Victor Nash), but all of the other characters; Rita and Mr Daunt, Mr Armstrong and Bess, Margo and Joe (and the little Margos), Helena, etc. The writing is lovely, the characters are generous and kind (most of them). It has the feel of a folk tale with Quietly punting on the river, the child that died and then lived, the magic lantern show and Robert Armstrong talking to his animals.
This is one of my favourite reads of the year.
A review