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Once upon a river
544 pages
A fog-drenched, folkloric mystery that unfolds like a dark fairy tale told by a roaring fire.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a warm, fire-lit inn on a damp, foggy night, surrounded by locals spinning yarns. It is a deeply atmospheric, leisurely experience that prioritizes the rich texture of its world over breakneck plotting. The prose mimics the gentle, meandering currents of the river itself, pulling you into a melancholic but ultimately comforting embrace. It is steeped in the magic of oral storytelling, blurring the lines between myth, science, and memory. Readers who savor lyrical historical fiction, gothic undertones, and the slow unraveling of a community's deepest secrets will find themselves completely submerged in this beautifully crafted, folklore-infused world.
- Mood
- fog-drenched
- atmospheric
- eerie
- cozy
- Tone
- mythic
- reflective
- earnest
- melancholic
- Pace
- leisurely
- Themes
- the power of storytelling · grief and maternal longing · the fluidity of truth · community interconnectedness
- The writing
- Lyrical, immersive, and richly textured, the sentences mimic the rhythmic, meandering cadence of oral storytelling.
- The arc
- Begins with a chilling, miraculous mystery that ripples through a grieving community, ultimately flowing toward a bittersweet and deeply comforting resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love getting lost in atmospheric, slow-burn historical mysteries steeped in folklore and the magic of storytelling.
Content notes
- child loss
- grief
- drowning
- domestic abuse
About the book
When the seemingly dead body of a child reanimates hours after arriving at an ancient inn on the Thames, three families try to claim her.
Description from Open Library.
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