Courageous...intriguing...entertaining

As gripping as its predecessor

A compelling modern family drama with witty and wonderful characters. Utter bliss.

Gripping, deeply affecting

A beautiful exploration of mental health and love

Utterly compelling and insightful, I was drawn into this family in crisis from the first chapter of this unflinchingly honest and beautifully written novel

I adored the forensic detail of Healey's writing and the wry, sharp take on millenial family life

A fast-paced, gripping read

Oozing with tension and written with captivating brilliance

At once an absorbing thriller and a beautifully observed study of the relationship between mother and teenage daughter

I don't know anyone else who writes like this. Emma Healey's voice soars, sings and startles as she takes you right under the skin of her characters. She 'magics' the ordinary into the extraordinary and, just as impressively, transposes the extraordinary to the ordinary. Unforgettable.

This novel is a beautiful and rare thing - a page turning thriller with all the pain, warmth and humour of authentic family life portrayed. I absolutely loved it.

Healey is a natural story-teller

A natural-born writer...strong, lucid, non-stop suspense

A wonderfully crafted story of action, history, and secrets that is as imaginative as it is compelling

A brilliant debut thriller. He knows how to hook a reader and keep them hoovering up pages

An enchanting mix of mystery and folklore.

This pungently atmospheric, quietly smoldering thriller sensitively mixes superstition, oral storytelling and the emerging psychology movement of the 19th century.

Once Upon A River succeeds in doing what you hope every book will do - pull you in from the first page, hold you captive in the middle, then leave you satisfied and thoughtful at the end. I loved it.

This enchanting historical story is full of folklore and intrigue.

Though Setterfield writes emotions with marvellous truth and subtlety, her most stunning prose is reserved for evocative descriptions of the natural world, creating an immersive experience made of light, texture, scent and sensation.

Like Setterfield’s earlier novel The Thirteenth Tale, Once Upon a River is very much a story about the spellbinding power of storytelling...a deeply satisfying read.

As the story progresses - by turns slow and melancholy, fast and furious, like its river setting - Diane Setterfield dips beguilingly into the intertwined lives of her vibrant characters.

This dense, absorbing, beautifully atmospheric novel weaves a truly hypnotic spell.

Setterfield is a master of the medium. Like the river at its core, her plot twists and turns with ease and confidence, and her writing is beautiful.

Setterfield brilliantly captures a time and place on the cusp of modernity, plays bleakness and warmth off against each other to create a life-affirming tale of what it means to be human.

An exquisitely crafted multi layered mystery.

Once Upon a River is one of the most pleasurable and satisfying new books I've read in a long time. Setterfield is a master storyteller, her language flowing with a dark magic very like the river at the heart of her tale: swift and entrancing, profound and beautiful. Give yourself a treat and read it!

Once Upon a River is a delight, just marvellous. I devoured it in gulps.

Once Upon A River succeeds in doing what you hope every book will do - pull you in from the first page, hold you captive in the middle, then leave you satisfied and thoughtful at the end. I loved it.