Bellman & Black

by Diane Setterfield

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

I was greatly anticipating Diane Setterfield's next novel as soon as I put down The Thirteenth Tale. the writing style was intoxicating and held perfect suspense. I was expecting the same caliber with Bellman & Black. I received the same beautiful writing but the suspense I was looking for was not. I know it is not fair to compare one novel to another, but it was a bit of a let down. The storyline stayed on the same note throughout and left me waiting for something to happen. It never reached a higher octive. Despite the fact that lots, and lots of people close to William tragically died it got repetitive, someone dies William works, a second person dies William works harder, a third he works harder, until he's eventually married to his job.

The rise of his business was interesting but I wish there had been more of those moments, instead I found Scrooge counting his money late into the night, but unlike Scrooge his heart of ice never melted. Bellman and Black was the story of William Black's life, I understand that life is not eventful from beginning to end but I felt like there was something missing. While Bellman and Black did contain the elegant writing that was expected I felt the storyline did not match and just fell flat.


I recieved a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review