Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

I love the First Look Book Club from Penguin Random House. Every week I receive daily emails with the beginning of a book. When Once Upon a River was shared, I fell in love with the enchanting story-telling. When I didn't win a copy from the FLBC I tried again when it was a Bookish choice. With Bookish you read an excerpt and write a first impression for the chance to win a book. My review disappeared--twice--and I missed a chance to win an ARC! Finally, I requested an egalley from NetGalley and was thankful that Atria books granted me access to a galley!

I was determined to read this book!

Setterfield's story is a blend of fairy tale and mystery, set in a village on the Thames River in the mid-19th c. It is a time when scientific advances and superstition live side by side.

The Swan Inn was the place where people gathered to tell stories; one bitterly cold night, the inn's doors open and a man staggers in, carrying a bundle, and they become the story. As the townsfolk gather to help the battered and nearly frozen man, they discover he holds a girl he found in the river. The child is pronounced dead, but in a while the innkeeper's son alerts that the girl breathes.

The speechless girl has a magnetic draw. Mrs. Vaughen is sure the girl is her child who was kidnapped several years ago. Mr. Armstrong believes she is his grandchild abandoned by his wayward son. Lily White fears it is the sister who drowned when they were girls. And others like Rita and Mr. Daunt long to keep her with them.

As the Thames reaches a record flood stage, the mystery unfolds and backstories are revealed, Setterfield explores the complexity of human nature as the characters confront their past decisions and open to new possibilities.

Setterfield is a magical storyteller. I loved this book.

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Once Upon a River: A Novel
by Diane Setterfield
Atria Books
Pub Date 04 Dec 2018 
ISBN 9780743298070
PRICE $28.00 (USD)

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Seven years I lived in a small Michigan town in a county described as being a downstate 'Up North,' an area of wide open spaces and farmland punctuated by woods and wild. We knew a self-sufficient family who supplied all their food by hunting, fishing, and gardening. I heard stories about family feuds and wild lives.

The local library book club was led by a retired professor from Kalamazoo. The group wanted to read Bonnie Jo Campbell's book Once Upon a River because of the setting--the rural area around the Stark and Kalamazoo Rivers just a half hour away. The book was so popular that the library couldn't get enough copies of the book for the group and we read another book.

the view from my house

As I finally read Once Upon a River, sexual assault and abuse have been in the national conversation. Women everywhere are sharing their stories.

Meanwhile, reports warn against eating fish from Michigan's rivers tainted with PFAS, including the Kalamazoo River. The rivers in the book, which is set around 1980, are polluted by factories.

I had picked up another timely book. Or perhaps a timeless book.

Once Upon a River is about Margo whose hero is Annie Oakley. She is a deadly shot, can prepare game, fish and travel the river, avoiding the water contaminated by factories. Margo is a beautiful young girl who does not understand life or herself, and who is preyed upon by men. She confuses sex with safety and protection.

At fifteen Margo does not yet understand that she has been raped. The rape is witnessed, leading to a series of catastrophic events. With no mother or father, and unable to trust her remaining family, Margo takes her grandfather's boat to live alone on the river. She finds temporary shelter with a series of men. With each relationship, she grows in her understanding of what is right and wrong, who she is, and what she wants for herself.

Campbell's writing is exquisite, vividly descriptive. Margo is an unforgettable character, strong yet vulnerable, negligent of her outer beauty that lures men, capable of skinning a muskrat or shooting a man. With its beautiful writing, unique character and setting, and timeless themes, I would heartily recommend it for book clubs.

Read an excerpt from NPR here:
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/137638326/wild-water-river-runs-deep-with-ferocity-heart
Read an interview with Campbell here:
http://www.raintaxi.com/trawling-the-river-of-words-an-interview-with-bonnie-jo-campbell/

***