Bellman & Black

by Diane Setterfield

[Lianne]

Bellman and Black follows the story of William Bellman, whose life and rise in society is an interesting tale. By all accounts I should have really enjoyed this novel, it has all of the elements that I enjoy in a historical fiction: family drama, main character working his way in and up a family that rejected him, a touch of strange, almost Gothic atmosphere.

Instead, I found myself trudging through the novel. It wasn’t quite what I expected it to be compared to the premise provided: the novel focused a lot on William’s backstory and family affairs and everyday business dealings. I don’t mind backstory as it gives the reader a sense of who the character is but 30% into the novel, I found myself wondering when Mr. Black and the “macabre” side of the story would start. And when the macabre/Gothic elements did kick in, it felt rather mute compared to the rest of the story.

Bellman and Black I think would make a visually interesting movie but as a novel, it felt like a miss to me: something was missing to make it really interesting for me (especially compared to her first novel, which I loved). Maybe my expectations were too high but the novel lost my attention somewhere halfway.

You can read this review in its entirety over at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/10/14/review-bellman-and-black/