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Once Upon a River

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Once Upon a River

Written by: Diane Setterfield
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Once Upon a River, written by Diane Setterfield and read by Juliet Stevenson.

A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.

Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.

Is it a miracle?

Is it magic?

Or can it be explained by science?

An exquisitely crafted multi-layered mystery brimming with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s bestseller The Thirteenth Tale.

©2019 Diane Setterfield (P)2019 Penguin Audio Fairy Tales Fantasy Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery
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It was so brilliantly written and the story was so captivating that it kept me hooked 1st page to the last. And what's better? Even the back-stories of every character was so so good! Loved it!

What an amazing story!

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I didn't know much about the story when I picked up this book. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. Every chapter leaves you wanting more. It's so well written. The mystery, the details, the characters. Everything is impeccable. Lastly, I don't think I can commend the narration well enough. It's utterly beautiful. Juliet Stevenson is truly a artist. You can feel the story taking place around you. You feel like a spectator. His voice got me teary eyed towards the end. Everything about this book is just beautiful.

Gripping story. Beautiful narration.

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This was a fun listen. The author has a humorous writing style and Julia's narration bring the characters to life. She is one of the few narrators who can do voices of all genders with equal perfection.

The story was captivating for the most part, although the last one hour felt a bit drawn out. The author wanted to tie most of the story threads into near little bows. It was endearing, although really not necessary.

It was fun to enter the minds of Victorian time people, when many of our common scientific phenomenon were not discovered yet or had barely been researched. The banter between characters was hilarious and insightful. I really enjoyed those conversations.

Overall, it's a good one time listen and I think everyone would enjoy it. :)

A fun and engaging story of life by a river

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It was a heartfelt book.The story has a strong core of melancholy and it adds to its serene pace.A good book becomes a good book by pure detailing and this work is full of it.
 Each character is flushed out  immaculately and the background of an all seeing river compounds to its poignant tone. There is an air of mystery to it but more than the mystery what really works out is its charm.
The author has shown such deftness in dealing with her characters and we really feel for them.
like all the good stories it talks about love and she has done it with lot of love.
I perused the audible version of it and I have to tell you it was absolutely blissful. Her country English dialect and heartfelt narration moved me to tears.
It talks about loss of a chid and recovery of her , to put it  bluntly but it talks about a lot more than that.
Beautifully written and wonderfully narrated Once upon a river is a gem of a novel.Let this river sweep you away.You wont regret it one bit.

Great read

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