Thursday, December 12, 2013

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Rooks never forget.  The death of a rook at the hands of a young boy, William Bellman, with a catapult (what I know as a slingshot) is quickly forgotten by the boy, but that event seems to shape his entire life.  William grows up to be a successful businessman with a wonderful wife and family.  Yet one by one all those he loves dies and at each funeral he sees the man in black.  As his daughter lies in bed dying William finally confronts the mysterious stranger in the graveyard and a bargain is struck, and thereby is created, Bellman & Black.

If you read this blog on a semi-regular basis you will know that I like weird and dark books.  This one is quite weird and quite dark, yet it still felt lacking in something to me.  I was compelled to keep reading and finish the story, but I was never quite sure why things were happening as they were.  Yes, I understand that the rooks as a whole seemed to want revenge for their fallen brother, but it never really gelled for me.

I enjoyed the writing style, and the descriptions of the businesses Bellman started and ran, but the storyline never really grabbed me like her previous novel, The Thirteenth Tale.