Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Bellman & Black

by Diane Setterfield

The long-awaited new fiction from the author of THE THIRTEENTH TALE is a haunting Victorian tale of love, loss and the mystery of death.

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small cruel act that appears to have unforseen and terrible consequences. The killing of a rook with his catapult is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. And by the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, he seems indeed, to be a man blessed by fortune.

Until tragedy strikes, and the stranger in black comes, and William Bellman starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, he enters into a bargain. A rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.

Reviewed by violetpeanut on

3 of 5 stars

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This book made me really sad, but not in the way it should have. I was so disappointed! I loved [b:The Thirteenth Tale|40440|The Thirteenth Tale|Diane Setterfield|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1346267826s/40440.jpg|849453] and was really hoping for another 5 star read but, unfortunately, Ms. Setterfield's second book does not live up to the first. The settings, descriptions and prose are all beautiful and evocative but there is very little actual story here. Beautiful writing alone does not a great book make. *sigh*

Fans of historical fiction - particularly Victorian era - may enjoy this as the descriptions of the mill and the mourning rituals are very well researched and were fascinating.

Overall, this is not a bad book. It's just not what I was expecting and I wish there was a little more excitement to the plot. I found this to be a very slow read with lots of details and some repetition in the descriptions of William's daily routines. Some readers will love this and rate it much higher than I have. I would recommend this as a book club read or to fans of historical fiction but I would not necessarily recommend it to fans of the author's first book.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 16 September, 2013: Finished reading
  • 16 September, 2013: Reviewed