‘Once Upon a River’ by Diane Setterfield

On a dark, misty night in the small English village of Radcot, locals gather at the Swan Inn to cap their day with drinks and lore. The 600-year-old pub is a famed hub for storytellers, but the patrons cannot know that their evening will be stranger than any tale they could weave. Into the inn bursts a mysterious man, sopping and bloodied and carrying an unconscious four-year-old girl. But before he can explain who he and the child are, and how they came to be injured, he collapses. Upriver, two families are searching desperately for their missing daughters. Alice Armstrong has been missing for twenty-four hours, ever since her mother’s suicide. And Amelia Vaughn vanished without a trace two years prior. When the families learn of the lost little girl at the Swan Inn, each wonders if their child has at last been found. But identifying the child may not be as easy as it seems.

The atmospheric and mysterious Thames River is undeniably the main character in this magnificent tapestry of love, family, folklore, and science. The image of a river is super strong in all of the novel’s themes and the storytelling resembles the Thames in the way that its powerful current begins as a small trickle, slowly building underground and collecting various tributaries along the way until it becomes a wide and fast flowing river, carrying the reader along.

I loved this book so much, probably because of a personal connection. I lived for 6 years just a few blocks from the Thames River in Windsor/Eton. I also walked 150 miles alongside it (from the source deep in the Cotswolds to the city of London) with a friend. The main pub featured in the story is one that we were actually at, and I was so delighted to find a picture of it in my own travelogue! Yes, that’s you in the picture Helen! The Swan is located between Lechlade and Newbridge at the Radcot Bridge. The character of Henry Daunt is inspired by the real life photographer of the Thames, Henry Taunt. See his Thames pictures: here.

 

 

 

 

 

This area of England oozes charm, history, and rural beauty. Spending long hours walking the lonely towpath through farmer’s fields and quaint old villages with hedgerows and historic pubs is something I will never forget. Also years of crossing the Thames from Eton to Windsor daily in all sorts of weathers to go to the library, get some groceries, or take my daily walk made me feel well acquainted with the river’s moods, floods, seasons, and wildlife as it flowed past both ancient castle and humble cottage alike. I am grateful to Setterfield who allowed me to relive some of those years through this novel, and to enjoy a cracking good story!