A child is not an empty vessel, Fleet, to be formed in whatever way the parent thinks fit.

'Sometimes I think there is nothing more a man can do.

How does Robert Armstrong, raised outside family life in circumstances of financially cushioned neglect, turn out to be such a good man?.In the end, what brings them together? How? A wedge is driven between the Vaughans as they struggle to come to terms with the loss of Amelia.By the time Vaughan had written a concise two-page account of Amelia's kidnapping to his father in New Zealand, 'the horror of it was quite excised.' What effect does the act of storytelling have on Vaughan? What about the other characters?.Could the novel have been set at another time in history? What would have had to be different if the author had chosen another period?

To judge by such details as photography and transport as described in the novel, the events appear to be set in the 1870s or thereabouts.What role does the Swan itself play? Could this story have taken place anywhere else? The Swan Inn, Buscot Lodge, and the towns and villages along the river Thames create a very specific atmosphere for the story that unfolds.'Diane Setterfield: Official website of Diane Setterfield'.'An enigmatic child sends a small town on a search for answers (review of Once Upon a River)'. ^ 'Review of Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield'.^ 'Exclusive interview with Diane Setterfield'.'2006: Three graduates | News | University of Bristol'. Diane Setterfield - Bellman & Black - Orion Publishing Group. ^ The Thirteenth Tale, retrieved 25 November 2018.

^ 'Vanessa Redgrave, Olivia Colman to Star in BBC Drama 'The Thirteenth Tale' '.Setterfield's PhD is on 'autobiographical structures in André Gide's early fiction.' Setterfield taught at numerous schools as well as privately before leaving academia in the late 1990s. Her third novel, Once Upon a River, was published in 2018.īefore writing, Setterfield studied French literature at the University of Bristol, earning a bachelor of arts in 1986 and a PhD in 1993. ĭiane Setterfield's second novel, Bellman & Black, was published in 2013 by Emily Bestler Books/Atria in the United States and by Orion in the UK. Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Olivia Colman, and Sophie Turner, The Thirteenth Tale was televised on BBC2 in December 2013. The rights were acquired by David Heyman at Heyday Films and the novel was adapted for television by Christopher Hampton. It is written in the Gothic tradition, with echoes of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. she won the 2007 Quill Award, Debut author of the year, for this novel. Diane Setterfield (born 22 August 1964) is an English author whose 2006 debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, became a New York Times No.