I started this book blog in August 2020, during one of the covid lockdowns. But of course, I’ve been reading historical fiction for a much longer time. Since 2012, I keep a record of every book I read on Goodreads and since 2014 I write reviews in Dutch on Goodreads. It’s nice to still have my initial idea about a book.
I think it could be fun to review those older books here once in a while. The idea is to translate my old review and than add a paragraph about what I still know about it today.
Today it’s raining cats and dogs in Belgium and that in high summer. So I chose a book with an autumn and more gothic like feeling that I read during the autumn of 2019.
Old review:
At The Swan, a tavern on the banks of the Thames, a man walks in during the winter solstice with a girl in his arms. Dead. Drowned in the river. A few hours later, nurse Rita discovers that the girl is alive again. Who is she? And has she really come back to life? This event becomes the source of a lot of stories in which the river will play a prominent role.
Magic realism, it’s starting to become more and more my genre somehow. Because this story made me care. Even if I couldn’t always continue reading due to constructing my own house.
Many people write that this is a slow book, I don’t think so. Things do happen and the different stories unfold step by step. I also liked the language so much that I wanted to take my time with it. Towards the end, you just keep reading.
At first, the many characters might have been a bit confusing, but very soon they get under your skin. As do the misty wet river life and the Swan where everyone comes to warm themselves to listen to the stories.
The river plays a beautiful role, as does the girl. And who or what she is, that’s for each of us to decide ;).
2023 interpretation:
I liked this book, although I don’t remember it vividly. I do remember the whole atmosphere and that it is a rather strange story. This is not for everyone. But it kept me hooked. I should admit that haven’t read anything by Setterfield since and actually I don’t understand why. So I might pick up something of her during this autumn.
Have you read anything by Setterfield?
In Another Era 