Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield (25-Sep-2014) Paperback

Loved this story. Held me from first page to last. I've finished it as I sit by my father's hospital bed. He breathes still, but whatever comes, I am comforted by the final pages if this wonderful book.

I had waited patiently for the next book by Diane Setterfield after just loving The Thirteenth Tale. I was very disappointed. The book reminds me so much of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven and the book of Job. Bellman is haunted by the rook he killed as a child and then experiences the trials of Job in his punishment through his life. It is very psychological and is the workings of Bellman's mind as he spirals into an obsession with death. I did finish it, but it was a struggle.

Having read the previous book, I was waiting with anticipation for this book for some time. I prepurchased it so I wouldn't miss out on it as soon as it came out. I am not the sort of reader who thinks a good author can only please by writing the same book all over again. I was prepared for something very different and I wasn't disappointed. At first I had a sense of being dragged along through the life of William Bellman,pushed and hurried along as he leapt from success to success. I noticed how he never paused to actually live his life as he went, how he avoided living his own life. It was some what slow going as I kept waiting for the purpose of the book. Setterfield is an amazingly visual writer so I could see his world but was hurried through it-I finally realized that is the point. The final quarter of the book as he begins to come face to face with himself is riveting. That he avoids his beloved daughter is part and parcel of his attempt to kill thought and memory in his life and this is painful to read. At first I was thinking this is good and well written but not as compelling as her first book but by the time it was done I was staring life in the face. Just like the first book it is not for everyone and is probably not as accessible since it doesn't just read as a fun mystery book but if you like to think it is very much worth it.

I absolutely LOVED The Thirteenth Tale---LOVED IT !! I cannot believe the same person wrote this -- It is dull, boring, uninteresting and depressing. I couldn't even finish it and I was SO looking forward to reading it.....SOOOOOOO DISAPPOINTED !

The story became repetitive for me. I only finished it hoping that it would pick up with a shocking conclusion but it just slowly died. This book was a bit of a disappointment from one of my favorite authors.

After reading and thoroughly enjoying The Thirteenth Tale, I was excited to read another of this authors books. It was not what I expected but I enjoyed it. It was more thought provoking than exciting. Not as much drama as her first book but I liked the character development.

I can't begin to express my disappointment with this long-awaited Setterfield book. The Thirteenth Tale drew me in, ended far to soon. Bellman & Black is a dull story of the industrial revolution. I quit with no regrets on Chapter 23. If it had a tiny little pearl surprise hidden somewhere in the last quarter of the book, I don't have an iota of curiosity about what it was.

This novel was not at all what I expected, Setterfields last novel drew me in from the beginning and keep me interested. With this book I kept expecting some plot twist that just never happened. It was a tedious read.

Her first book, The Thirteenth Tale, was so amazing that I have been panting for another of her books for years and was so excited to see this one. It was god-awful. About half way through I started skimming, thinking that surly she'd let that stupid dead bird go. I wondered if Diane was writing something to see just how gullible people could be. I find it hard to believe that the person who wrote this book also wrote The Thirteenth Tale.

After reading her first book, The Thirteenth Tale, I was excited to receive this novel. However, I was quickly disappointed by a rather cliche story that moved very slowly. The story never grabbed my interest and nothing in the story or in the writing style was worth buyng this book.

Sorry Diane...I waited patiently and looked for your next book for 7 years....and THIS is it? "The Thirteenth Tale" is one of my all time favorite books. Sadly, this B & B is huge disappointment. I got through 100 pages....then fast-forwarded to end?? Still "blah". Static, matter-of-fact writing style, like I was reading a newspaper account of the tragic life of William Bellman. Way too much information about clothing mills. Zero character development, zero character chemistry. I did not even care when they all started dying.

The thirteenth Tale is my very favorite mystery so I was really looking forward to Bellman & Black. I couldn't get really interested in the characters and the story was not compelling. Better luck next time.

So disappointed - after waiting years for Setterfield's next book I purchased immediately on release and then couldn't get past the first 100 pages. Very slow going and very different style than "The Thirteenth Tale".

William Bellman is ten years old when, whilst out playing with his friends and cousin, he boasts that he can hit a rook with his catapault. The boys all believe that the rook will rise at the last moment - they all watch the stone as it falls and kills the bird. The moment stays in the back of William's mind, but life continues. The first half of the book follows this life; through childhood and then working his uncle's mill, through marriage and fatherhood. William Bellman is a driven man and, it seems, that all he touches becomes successful. Yet, there is a price to be paid for this success. Before long, tragedy strikes and, it seems that at every funeral, there is a man in black. William can barely recall his face or features, but he has a vague memory and a fleeting impression of seeing him. One day, William finally talks to him and makes some kind of half remembered agreement, a promise, a deal...

The second half of the novel turns to William Bellman turning his energies to a mourning emporium - named, as is the title of the book, Bellman & Black. Again, it seems that he has energy only for his work and, again, as with the mill, this too will become a huge commercial and financial success.

This long awaited novel by the author of "The Thirteenth Tale" is a dark and tragic read about the price of happiness. It is called a ghost story but it is more the story of a life that is haunted than of a ghost. Rooks appear in many guises and, as the narrator reminds us, they have many collective nouns: a building of rooks, a parliament of rooks, a clamour and a storytelling. It is rooks which obsess Bellman's daughter, Dora. Rooks which caw and cawl and sweep overhead. As Bellman begins his mourning emporium, he becomes a man who wears only black, who works in a building where nobody laughs and the dignity of mourning is the public face of the staff - where colour is leached so that, when he ventures outside, the colours of the sky and grass seem almost an insult.

I have to say that I found the first half of this novel a trifle slow and hard to get into. However, by the middle of the book I was hooked and found that I read to the end without being able to put the book down. I have a feeling that it is a novel which will stay with me for a long while and one I will certainly re-read. I just hope that the author does not leave it quite so long before a new book in the future, but this was worth waiting for.

*Book source ~ NetGalley

William Bellman is likeable, endlessly curious, and driven. When it looks like his life couldn’t get any happier, tragedy strikes and a thoughtless moment from his boyhood comes back to haunt him.

First I have to say that I don’t know why this is called a ghost story. There’s no ghost unless you count the moment in Bellman’s past that haunts him his whole life. Well, it doesn’t actively haunt him, but there are moments when it migrates from his subconscious to his conscious mind and it’s in those moments he feels as if he’s going a little crazy. Anyway, no actual ghost is in this story.

Now, this is a different kind of tale. Set in England, it never says what year, but it feels like it’s the 1800s. It’s like a memoir of Bellman’s life. It starts when he and three other boys are ten years old and Bellman kills a rook with his catapult (slingshot). In his defense, he never thought his rock would travel the distance and he did hesitate, but at the last moment he let it fly and wham. Dead bird. This is the moment that comes back to haunt him again and again through the book.

While there doesn’t appear to be an obvious point to this story (to me anyway), I still found it fascinating. William Bellman is an interesting man and I enjoyed learning about the fabric mill and later the attention to detail when he opens Bellman & Black, a store that caters to the dead. In other words, if someone dies, Bellman & Black has everything a family needs for the funeral and mourning periods. I don’t expect this story will appeal to everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Years ago, offering career advice, my aunt Jean said you couldn’t go wrong providing food or funeral services, since we all need to eat and all have to die. Though I did not follow her words of wisdom, they came drifting back to me while reading Bellman & Black, Diane Setterfield’s second novel. This author is well known for her much praised The Thirteenth Tale, which I agree was spell binding, and many reviewers complain that this new book is nothing like the first. It is different for sure, but such an intricate and beautifully written novel deserves to be judged upon its own merits.

B&B chronicles the life of William Bellman, the disinherited grandson of a wealthy English textile manufacturer. The novel opens with a vignette from his childhood, when, showing off for his buddies, Will thoughtlessly kills a rook with his slingshot. The boys examine the bird and are mesmerized by the subtle colors that shimmer within the blackness of its plumage, while the other rooks, generally so raucous, observe them in silence. A sense of guilt causes Will a troubled night. Because of this incident, however, he will grow up with a fine sense of color in all of its variations, and will serve him well when his uncle invites him to join the family business. Will rises to manager and then mill owner, marries and has several children, and life is good, until a series of deaths decimate his friends and destroy his family. Distraught and depressed, he decides to kill himself too, but is stopped by the presence of a mysterious stranger dressed entirely in black, who, in a very few words, inspires Will to start a new business, the production and sale of all things funeral related.

Bellman and Black, running only to 300 and some pages, is a great big chocolate trifle of a novel. Even the title has multiple layers of meaning. Even the rooks interject their own voices. The reader follows the wide parabola of Will’s life with a sense of helplessness, as the once sociable young man becomes an obsessive, ascetic workaholic, riddled with guilt and descending into a sort of living death. And while the trope of death is always present, the book is filled with metaphors that slip seamlessly and quietly into the narrative, most of them deriving, once you think about it, from that fateful introductory vignette. B&B’s ending, which some find tragic, is actually quite apt and beautiful, peaceful in its own way.

B&B owes allegiance to such authors as Dickens, Poe, and Charlotte Bronte, but it is definitely Ms. Setterfield’s own impressive creation. Read it thoughtfully, and you’ll never regard birds of the crow persuasion in the same light again.

I first encountered Diane Setterfield with her first book, The Thirteenth Tale. It was amazing and wonderful and I loved it so much that I bought my own copy. The one I read was from my friends at the library. Well, my friends at the library have supplied me with yet another fix from this wonderful writer.

I have read some of the reviews posted online for this book. I suppose all I can say is everyone’s taste is different. I can see how many would not find this book to their liking. And there are also those that are upset that it is so different from The Thirteenth Tale. But, I believe the fact of how different it is shows how good of a writer Diane Setterfield is.

The story is beautiful, slow and haunting. Its rather “slow” by today’s standard. Far more belonging with the Gothic tales of the Victorian Era. Much more a study of the characters and how a person’s interpretation of one incident can relay the chart of their lives.

The story begins with the murder of a rook by a flawless shot of a child. And the rooks haunt the story throughout. The boy grows to manhood and masters all he touches, till one day it all comes crashing back down. And unnamed bargain is made with the man in Black, a bargain that is assumed but never defined. And it is upon this that the new world is built and the web of mystery woven.

Its a fascinating look into the mind of obsession, of human frailty and how foolish we humans often are. I think my favorite line is we are, “an entertainment of humans”.

http://sephipiderwitch.com/bellman-black-diane-setterfield/

I found this book fascinating with an eerie foreboding quality reflecting Poe and other authors engaging in dark things over which we have little control. I have read other works in which ravens/rooks have played an important roll and it all usually ends up poorly. In addition to a setting which appeared to be well-researched and detailed (I learned a lot about early cloth making), the drama supersedes the setting. In a plot in which the actions of youth take a dark turn, the seeds of death are planted early. Death bides its time until a vulnerable moment and leads the unsuspecting target into its web by encouraging natural talents and tendencies. What is left unsaid is more important than what is said as the efforts of the victim dig the hole deeper. The book leaves much unexplained which might be disconcerting, but then, who can read the mind of Black?

I-- like so many others-- loved Diane Setterfield's first book, The Thirteenth Tale; however, do not make the mistake of reading Bellman & Black expecting it to be more of the same. It most decidedly is not. If you're the type of reader who wants "something to happen" on a regular basis throughout the story, this may not be the book for you. Also, in some places online I've seen this book subtitled "A Ghost Story." The ghosts in this book are not ones we've come to expect from stories with this label. At the rate that I'm throwing up caution signs, you're going to think that I didn't enjoy the book. You would be wrong. It all boils down to a matter of reader expectations. The fewer you have, the more likely you are to enjoy this book. What were mine? I expected to read a very special story, and I did.

Bellman & Black is firmly rooted in Victorian England. As William's responsibilities grow at the textile mill, Setterfield makes us right at home in that world. Through William's knack for business, engineering, and innovation, we see the burgeoning power of an industrial nation. When he completely switches gears and turns his talents to the retail trade, we see how a nation concerns itself with death and all its trappings. The author's research gives us a very firm foundation upon which to view her main character's world.

And into this world of success is woven fairy tale-like elements of unease. Of something not being right. Of someone, or some thing, always looking over William Bellman's shoulder. Rooks-- those English cousins of American crows-- figure into the story from the very first page. Their appearance, their behavior, how they've played a role in the stories man has told throughout the millennia. They come to represent thoughts that William does not want to think, to represent memories that William wants to forget. The ghosts in this story are not moaning specters carrying clanking chains, although Bellman is caught in his own hellish version of A Christmas Carol. They are the ghosts of regret and pain and fear... all the nasty things that happen to us that we want to shove in a closet and keep there.

I rapidly became immersed in this quiet story. The world Setterfield creates is a very Dickensian one, and I felt at home in the language and the visual feast she put before me. William Bellman is a complicated man, but throughout his somewhat misguided life, I cared what happened to him. Throughout the book, time flows in its own pattern. A year can take chapters, or in the space of two pages, several years can pass. Floating along in the gentle current of the narrative, I was never thrown to shore. Bellman & Black has a much narrower field of vision than Setterfield's first book, but in its own way, it is every bit as powerful.

The tale begins when we meet our protagonists as he revisits the summer he and his friends were eleven. It was a summer of magic, of boys being boys, of limited possibilities. It was also when, with his well crafted sling-shot, he took aim and made an impossible shot; killing a black rook. It is a deed that will haunt him and overshadow events throughout his life. Described as a ghost story, it is more than that, as our protagonist William Bellman struggles with the demons that dance in his self-conscious. This was an odd tale of one man’s life, reminiscent of Charles Dickens and perhaps written in an attempt to capture the dark beauty that is, Edgar Allen Poe.
William Bellman is an odd man, complex, driven, haunted and an unreliable narrator. The man was haunted, in particular by events and a mystery man named Black. Tragedy and loss, success and restlessness, haunt our protagonist. While I cannot say I ever warmed up to William, I certainly experienced his emotions. I couldn’t help but wonder if William was simply disturbed, or if he was truly plagued, making the tale compelling and unsettling. We meet his family, and other characters that help shape our opinions and reveal sides of William. The characters William interacts with aren’t fleshed out, including his daughter who herself was an odd creature. I was intrigued by her, and wish her presence was more in-depth. There are love interests, but even those are overshadowed by William’s thoughts and drive.
Bellman & Black was beautifully written, wholly character driven and deliciously strange. Fans of Hitchcock and Poe will enjoy its odd nuances. The tale takes us through William’s life from the darkest to the brightest moments. We get caught up in his emotions, drive, fears and perhaps paranoia. The plot itself moves at a meandering pace, with heightened moments as we travel towards meeting Black. Throughout the book, we are given information about the Rook all of which I found fascinating. As I read I had a sense of foreboding, and constantly wondered as to William’s state of mind. This book was never boring, but the pacing may disappoint some. I am a huge fan of Poe and Dickens and some of the author’s dark and atmospheric passages regarding death and loss captured their essence. This is not your typical ghost story, and I am even hesitant to mention that, since I feel it will mislead the reader. Refreshing and different Bellman & Black was a tale that I enjoyed but fear it will only appeal to a unique audience. I would be selective as to whom I would recommend it. ARC provided by publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published at caffeinated book reviewer.

I loved Diane Setterfield's "The Thirteenth Tale," and pre-ordered "Bellman & Black" the minute I heard about it. It was very different than what I was expecting. I had mixed feelings about it the entire time I was reading it, but this is a book that has haunted me since the day I finished reading it - years ago. After recently re-reading it, I know it will continue haunting me, and that, to me, declares a book (and the author who wrote it) to be something quite special and extraordinary.

I went into reading Bellman & Black without first reading Diane Setterfield's other novel, The Thirteenth Tale, so I had no idea what to expect from this author. After doing further research since finishing this one I've come to realise that these two books are apparently completely different to each other in the way they are written so if you like one you won't necessarily be a fan of the other.
Unfortunately I found Bellman & Black a very tedious, slow-paced and difficult book to read. I'd have to go as far as to say that I thought it was boring, plain and simple.
First up were the characters, I couldn't relate to any of them and didn't really end up liking any of them either.
Second up is the whole 'Ghost Story' thing. Where was the ghost story? I couldn't see how this aspect came into the book at all. In my opinion the main character, William Bellman, had psychological issues which made him have a bit of an imaginary 'friend' in the form of Black and be manipulated by him throughout the story but I'm still not really sure.
Lastly, was the plot itself. Other than the fact it very closely followed the career of William Bellman and his successful business as well as the unfortunate demise of his poor family, I can't really think of anything else memorable that actually happened during the whole book.
I had to force myself to finish it just so I could have something to review, but I certainly won't be recommending this book to others.

Bellman & Black explores “The Butterfly Effect” on a gothic, morbid scale; Will Bellman’s seemingly unintentional act of animal cruelty as a young boy has lasting and spreading effects as he continues to age. Throughout the novel, the “rook” (a crow, essentially) is cast as the harbinger of death, interspersed by factual tidbits about the rook’s eating habits, scientific names, and so on. The juxtaposition of the rook as a death symbol with these reminders of the unavoidability and impersonality of nature serve to remind us that death does become us all. So why was Will Bellman targeted?

Will takes over a family business and his life becomes consumed with entrepreneurship; the book does become immersed in the details of his businesses, which I personally found engrossing. However, for each bit of happiness Will experiences, the rook flits through the pages, bringing another round of death and sadness for Will. Instead of properly dealing with his losses, they propel Will to work harder, shunning any kind of pleasure for the sole purpose of work. At each funeral Will attends, he meets a man simply named Black. They go into business together; the terms are vague. The business consumes Will and he becomes determined to “pay back” Black his portion of the profits. The ending, while not necessarily a surprise, is still a bit of a letdown—while Will is not a warm and fuzzy character, he is not a moral reprobate.

Which brings us to the crux of the problem with Bellman & Black – why did the simple act at the beginning of the novel, something that, truly, was not fully intended in a malicious manner on Will’s part, bring about such devastation in the end? Will killed a rook—so everyone he loves dies. I feel that Setterfield wants us to dig deeper into the allegory of the novel; one small act can wreak larger havoc, yes, but if a person does not boldly face a problem or an issue, Setterfield seems to say, it all becomes exacerbated. If only Will had taken small moments to enjoy his pleasures more (as evidenced at the very, very end of the novel, when he went through just the very few happy memories he had). If only Will had been, yes, a bit more selfish and lived his life more for himself instead of being regulated by the external world.

All in all, this novel is more profound than what it seems. I also found the minutiae of running a mill and starting a goods business quite fascinating; it fed into the larger theme of small gears making everything else tick (or break, as it were).

This is the story of William Bellman, who killed a rook as a child. It is also a story of death, the one constant in life. The book chronicles every death William encounters, starting with the rook, and follows him as he turns the business of death into a flourishing career. But William's ambition makes him lose sight of Thought and Memory, and his daughter Dora's observations of him are most accurate: "You could lose your bearings if you spent excessively long periods engaged on a single project at the expense of rest and friendship and the peaceful contemplation of life's mysteries. Was it feasible that a man might do this for so long that he slipped his moorings altogether? Was lost to himself for good?"

This book succeeds in its timelessness and allegory. It could have taken place during any time in English history and is unencumbered by a definitive period. The rook does not play any major role other than as a reminder of death's constant presence. It is gothic and atmospheric and the story is unhurried in its deliberate account of William's life and how he comes to terms with what is truly important in life.

I dearly LOVED The Thirteenth Tale and made the mistake of reading Bellman & Black with the expectations that I would receive a similar story. Didn't happen. I closed the book disappointed and confused because I kept waiting for the big wow factor and it did not materialize. The next day I was plagued with the thought that I had missed something in the story - that there was a substance I failed to inhale as I swept over the pages. So I cleared my mind of any pre-conceived notions, tried to forget completely the authors first book and closed the cover a second time with a total different frame of mind. While the story still held no big plots, and really no characters with whom I found much depth or substance, except Mr. Bellman, I think I found the meaning - at least for me. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone so I won't enter my final opinions. Suffice it to say that Bellman & Black is the story of one man's journey in life, his joys, his sorrow and his own internal torment. I found no ghosts - just the hauntings he brought upon himself. With a hint of Dorian Gray and a sprinkling of the story the Devil and Daniel Webster, Bellman & Black makes one pause and give thought to the memories they will leave behind when the rook comes to call. I am so glad I gave the book a second chance to speak to me. For Setterfield fans, I hope you will read with an open mind too.

This novel was an interesting book for group discussion because, like The Thirteenth Tale, there were aspects of the narrative that were left to the discretion of the reader to unravel. It also contained passages of sheer brilliance; Ms Setterfield has a wonderful way with words. Unfortunately The Thirteenth Tale had a finale that left me blown away and that was missing from Bellman and Black. Our book group was also a bit underwhelmed by all the references to rooks.

The introduction suggests that this is a ghost story, but I think readers would be disappointed if that is what they are hoping for. It's a painting of a man in the industrial revolution, who comes from a lower middle class family but makes good through sheer hard work and determination.
William Bellman is an absolute workaholic. He starts out employed at his uncle's mill and eventually opens a one-stop-emporium for the sale of funereal items. I admired the author's descriptions of his work ethic, I almost felt exhausted just reading about how much he fitted into a day!

Although the story opens with William shooting a perfect curve and slaying a young rook, it was questionable as to how this fitted in with the rest of the narrative. Did the rook haunt him throughout his life, or was it just an inspiration for all the shades of black that are later available in his mourning goods business? His life had its share of sorrows too - were these pay-back for the death of the rook?

I loved the descriptions of industrial life in the textile mill, William's interactions with the staff and his dedication to the job. Then he opens his emporium and pours all of himself into that. Partly this is a reaction to the grief that is in his life, partly, I think, his whole work ethic.
I had expected more to come of Girl 9, I had hoped for some denouement. Who was the man lurking at the funerals and later named Mr Black? (My book group had a theory about that but no spoilers here!)

The Thirteenth Tale was a hard act to follow and this fell a bit short. I shall still be rushing out to get a copy of anything else Diana Setterfield writes, but next time I hope we'll get a stunning ending :)

You have to agree, the summary from the publisher makes this book sound very intriguing:

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small cruel act that has unforeseen and terrible consequences. By the time he is grown, with a family of his own, he seems to be a man blessed by fortune - until tragedy strikes. Desperate to save the on previous thing he has left, William enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business...
Bellman & Black by Diane SetterfieldBriefly: If only it were that simple. Wait, it is.

Didja Like It?: The publisher made reference to this tale as a "dark and mesmerizing ghost story." This was yet another description that pulled me in. The writing is top-notch, the characters all developed and ready to go, but then...it stalls out and then has to be pushed to the wainwright by some decidedly unexciting action. Of course none of this really happens, but this "one small cruel act," while indeed horrible, doesn't, in all honestly, seem like a big enough catalyst to allow for William's downfall. And what a downfall it is, too. He seems too nice, likable, capable, blah blah blah, for all of this ugliness to be rained down upon him. Maybe that's the point, but I certainly didn't buy it.

Anything Else to Mention?: Everything about this novel screams "Gothic scary times ahead!" but it is like turning the lights on inside a Haunted House...kinda boring. With so much promise, I was disappointed that there was so much set up and no lift off.

To Read or Not To Read: Read it for the potential, then tell me in the comments below if you agree or disagree with me.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield was published November 5, 2013 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books. A free copy of this book was given to Ink and Page in return for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author.

Rating: 3

Genre: Adult Fiction Fantasy Paranormal

Having not read The Thirteenth Tale, I had nothing to compare Bellman & Black with and none of the disappointment other readers have expressed. At first glance, the story is unusual and strangely structured (unless you are particularly partial to rooks or Victorian mill practices). The first half of the book details the happy go lucky life of William Bellman, who just happened to kill a rook when a lad. The second half takes us through his unravelling: obsessive working and a fixation with his invisible business partner Mr Black.

On the surface, this is an odd read. However, on reflection, it is multi-layered, a commentary on one man's relationship to grief, work and death. Read this way, Bellman & Black is also a classic cautionary tale in the Victorian tradition - a warning against compulsive working, a habit that only leads to death. William Bellman rushes towards his ultimate fate and what was it all for?

If you are willing to step beneath the surface of this story, you will find much to reflect and ponder on. As a bonus, Setterfield's writing style is enjoyable and pacy.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield is a dark story that tells of a young boy who kills a rook while out with his friends. This killing of this bird in turn haunts him the rest of his life in a very peculiar way – in the form of a man in black who seems to turn up at different points in this now grown man’s life.

William by all accounts has a good life with a wife and children along with a thriving business. However things start to go downhill fast when everyone around him begins to die and at each funeral the man in black is there. Left with only one daughter who barely survived William throws himself into his work. He seems to be successful at anything he puts his mind to but as time passes he begins to obsess more over the man in the black to the point of even opening a business and calling it Bellman & Black. Can William gain redemption by trying to appease the man in black?

Years ago I read Diane Setterfield’s last novel The Thirteenth Tale with my book club and we all loved it but Bellman & Black was just ok for me. It didn’t seem to have the same special something but I listened to the audiobook of Bellman & Black which is narrated by Jack Davenport and he saved this book for me. I’m not sure I would have continued if I had been reading it in print but I did enjoy the tone and nuances of Jack Davenport’s voice. He has a smooth and melodic voice that I thought lent really well to the atmosphere of this novel.

I’m sure that this novel will appeal to many with its dark and gothic feel. I’d love to hear what others thought of this book of Diane Setterfield’s if you’ve read it.

William Bellman is ten years old when while he is out playing with his friends and cousin, he boasts that he can hit a rook with his catapault (slingshot) . The boys all believe that the rook will rise at the last moment - and then they all watch the stone as it falls and kills the bird. The moment makes a lasting impression - he hoped that it wouldn't hit the bird. The hitting of the bird stays in the back of William's mind.
The first half of the book went rather slow - it is about William's life; his childhood, working at his uncle's mill, marriage and fatherhood. William Bellman is a driven man and, it seems, that all he touches becomes successful. Yet, there is a price to be paid for this success. Before long, tragedy strikes and, it seems that at every funeral, there is a man in black. William can barely recall his face or features, but he has a vague memory and a fleeting impression of seeing him. One day, William finally talks to him and makes some kind of half remembered agreement, a promise, a deal...

In the second half of the book, I began to see a purpose - the story turns to William Bellman turning his energies to a mourning emporium - named, as is the title of the book, Bellman & Black. Again, it seems that he has energy only for his work and, again, as with the mill, this too will become a huge commercial and financial success. William feels he owes the strange man though - but he can't remember the "deal" they made.

BELLMAN & BLACK
Diane Setterfield

Setterfield writes beautifully and, no matter what the story, you read for the pleasure of her prose. Bellman & Black is a most unusual story and it is not clear until the very end, what is the meaning of this story? At some point, it is a feel good story about a young man and his successful life. Abandoned by his father and hated by his grandfather, William Bellman overcomes the odds because he is smart, a quick-study, and his uncle recognizes his potential and offers opportunity.

Setterfield reminds us that no matter how successful or how rich or how hard you work, illness and death will still visit and steal what is most precious from you. The story begins to feel like an ancient Greek tale of success and loss and the principles to be learned, but it does not follow that strand to completion.

She makes the point that death can be a lucrative business. After all, everyone dies at some point. Building a successful business can be all-consuming to some people, while other successful people still have a private life which they work hard to support. At what point does a person get lost completely in his business world? And what does he lose when he is lost to success?

Rooks are used to illustrate what is important in life. From the purplish, bluish black of their dense feathers to their mass gatherings and intelligent nature, the rook is the common, if mysterious, creature in the story. It is used by Setterfield to demonstrate a point, and it works beautifully.

From the very beginning, Setterfield gives us paths to follow, but as the story continues, the paths begin to lead nowhere. It was difficult to know what moral we should be learning. Happily, she ties up everything at the very end and there is no doubt about what message she is sending.

One thing that puzzled me while reading Bellman & Black, was to figure out what time period it was set in. It was before the Singer Sewing Machine was invented and before cars or gas lighting. That might describe the Victorian era, especially with their strict mores for death, but what epidemic took place during that early to mid-1800’s? Perhaps it is just poetic license by this highly imaginative author, Diane Setterfield!
Barbara Ford

Diane Setterfield, the author of the great Thirteenth Tale, is back with her latest book Bellman& Black. This book is a great Faustian tale and it begins as all good books do with an incident that changes our dear Mr. Bellman.

The incident is the death of a rookling killed by a group of boys, more precisely one boy in particular who grows up to be Mr. Bellman. How that one little rock changed a moment and forged a memory is something the story delves into. You see it is all Thoughts and Memory and the rooks keep the time and the pace and are the thematic equivalent of a sidekick to our hero. They are everywhere.

Then Mr. Black arrives. This mysterious Mr. Black who appears and disappears in and out of Mr. Bellman's life at his most weak moments had me momentarily remembering the awful Meet Joe Black movie. However, I digress, what does this Mr. Black want with Mr. Bellman who aspires for great success and how much of it will cost Mr. Bellman.

One moment drives Mr. Bellman to make a deal with Mr. Black but alas, Mr. Bellman forgot to ask the terms. What happens in this tale will leave you thinking about the importance of life and death and how we deal with memories both good and bad.

This was not an easy read I will admit. However, I found myself days later after I finished the book pondering the message of the rooks, the main character's daughter Dora and her transformation.

If you like Faust, Poe, Shelly, or deep philosophical stories then, you will love Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield.

After reading and enjoying Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale a number of years ago I was so excited to see she was coming out with a new novel, Bellman & Black. While I can’t say that I enjoyed Bellman & Black as much as her first novel, Ms. Setterfield does present another intriguing story, one that will lead the reader into an eerie world where a seemingly small occurrence will haunt a man for his entire life.

When a young William Bellman kills a rook with his slingshot he is briefly disturbed by what he has done but soon forgets about it and moves on with his life. The nephew of the owner of Bellman’s Mill, Will begins working for his uncle and soon becomes indispensable to the company. Will seems to be blessed with a remarkable blend of brains, luck and an incredible work ethic and as he continues on at the mill he gets married, has children and eventually becomes the mill’s owner. William Bellman is happy. Yet as his star rises those around him continue to fall and a sinister man in black seems to always be close by but out of reach. No amount of planning, studying or calculating can keep Will’s loved ones from dying, that is until this Mr. Black offers him a deal and he takes it.

Only having a vague sense of the deal he made with this dark stranger, Bellman opens a funerary emporium called Bellman and Black and works tirelessly to build a thriving business off of death, always saving for when Mr. Black comes for his payment. But when that occurs, what Mr. Black wants is not what Bellman could ever have envisioned.

Bellman & Black has a decidedly macabre feeling underlying the entire story, one that does not let up. While I will admit that this unsettling feeling makes for a tantalizing reading experience I wouldn’t categorize it as a ghost story as the cover would have you believe. It is more about a man grasping for life and, in doing so, actually missing out on living the life he has worked so hard to obtain. The strange character of Mr. Black actually only appears in snippets throughout the story while he served as more of a dark cloud over Bellman that he can’t quite get away from. The harder Bellman works the more he pulls away from the world around him and starts going mad with uncertainty of when Mr. Black will be back to collect whatever it is he wants. This slow unraveling was my favorite part of Bellman & Black.

What I enjoyed less, however, was the endless details given to the various business aspects of the Bellman empire. I found myself starting to glaze over slightly with the constant discussion of calculations, deals and workload but would perk up again when a death brought Mr. Black back in the picture. The way Mr. Black fits in with the killing of the rook was kind of odd to me as well but one I accepted as part of the general strangeness of the story.

Overall I enjoyed Bellman & Black for the otherworldly, old fashioned macabre story it is. It is a quick, spooky read and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a little unsettling chill in their reading.

I don't remember being any more conflicted with a review rating as I am with Diane Setterfield's latest Bellman & Black. On one hand it's beautifully written and on the other, I just felt so hollow inside upon finishing it. After reading rave reviews for her bestseller The Thirteenth Tale I may have set the bar too high but... where can you go wrong when the word Ghost is a part of its title?

William Bellman is 11 when the story begins and progresses with him as an adult. Everything about Bellman appears normal. He's a successful businessman, neither nice or mean, and appears to have a rather good life. All is well besides the fact that one by one people begin to die around him. At first the deaths are at all implausible, but after seeing a man in black at each funeral, could there be something else entirely at play?

Diane Setterfield's voice in Bellman & Black flows evenly and is quite absorbing. The story feels as if someone is speaking directly to me in recounting a man's whole life and how he became haunted after killing a rook as a child. Setterfield makes it almost impossible to not want to read further.

My main issues for this literary novel mainly stem from how flat I found the character Bellman to be. He's even described by other townsfolk to be a man who could go either way. Because of his flatness, I almost missed where his decline into madness began to take shape. This is not from unclear writing but rather I didn't really care anymore. His daughter Dora seemed a lot more compelling.

Most times when someone reads a ghost story the element of suspense should be present. There is never a strong sense of tension. At the least there should be one mangled hand reaching from the mill dye scaring the pants off of one character. Sadly...that's never the case with this title. Oh how I missed the running then falling scene.

Overall I'm interested in reading more by Diane Setterfield and will read The Thirteenth Tale although I am conflicted with my feelings toward Bellman & Black. I only hope the next book I read that says it's a ghost story will actually be that, a ghost story.

Diane Setterfield’s Bellman & Black is an eerie ghost story set in England during the Victorian era. William Bellman’s business successes are haunted by personal tragedy and in an effort to save his daughter from an untimely death, he enters into a bargain with a rather mysterious figure known only as Black.

Bellman & Black begins with the fateful day that ten year old William Bellman takes aim with his slingshot and kills a rook. We then follow William into adulthood where he becomes a successful businessman running the family mill, marries and fathers several children. He suffers many tragic losses and instead of mourning those deaths, William instead buries his grief in work. When faced with the prospect of losing his entire family during an epidemic, William makes a deal with a figure that has haunted him at various times in his life.

The first half of Bellman & Black is fast paced and quite interesting. William is a fascinating and intelligent character with extraordinary business acumen. He finds happiness in his personal life but he always remains very work oriented. The atmosphere of the story during this part of the story is light and rather hopeful despite William’s ominous and unexplained sightings of a rather ghostly figure that appears after he experiences a loss.

It is at the mid-point of the novel that it takes a dark turn and the pacing becomes slow. The story becomes mired down in superfluous details and seems to lose focus after William strikes a vague deal with the ethereal Mr. Black and embarks on another business venture. The rest of the novel centers around the new business and Mr. Black seems to disappear.

Although it is not a typical ghost story, there is a supernatural quality to Bellman & Black. Diane Setterfield’s research is meticulous and her attention to detail provides added depth and interest to the storyline. The plot is quite unique and there are some very interesting twists and turn. The ending is well done and answers a few of the questions that haunt William (and the reader) for much of the novel.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

In the beginning, I was completely engrossed by this book, but after reading it, I felt like something was missing, almost like I'd been cheated. William Bellman was easy to like, initially. I enjoyed seeing him build his career and family and he was immensely happy in doing so. He was a smart businessman and a wonderful husband and father - at first. As stated in the book description, William suffers many losses and his priorities change. I found it interesting that when he first began work in the mill, William surrounded himself with vibrant colors, full of life - but when his circumstances changed, he seemed to shun bright colors, finding them vulgar, preferring grays and blacks. Interesting parallel with his life events.

Bellman & Black is described as a ghost story, which was what initially made me want to read it, but it never really had the feel of a ghost story. I'm assuming the "ghost" had something to do with Black, but his character and purpose were never really made clear. As the story progressed, I kept waiting for something to happen - some big plot surprise or heart of the story - but by the middle of the book, I realized that was never going to develop.

The writing was impressive and flowed very well, the narrative was wonderful and something that happens between William and Black in the end will make the reader think. However, after taking a few days to contemplate this book before writing the review, I still feel like the author never really got her point across and I even looked back through the book several times thinking maybe I missed something. Describing Bellman & Black as a ghost story is misleading - dark and depressing, definitely - scary and suspenseful, no, not even in the gothic sense. I'll be interested to see what other readers have to say about this book - maybe they can figure out the purpose of this story.

This review is based on a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

I nearly jumped up and down in anticipation upon learning that Diane Setterfield was finally coming out with a second novel. After all, THE THIRTEENTH TALE is one of my favorite novels. Its masterful use of dual narratives to tell a story--the first by the book-obsessed Margaret Lea, the second by the trickster author Vida Winter--showcased Setterfield's almost ventriloquist-like ability to write using different authorial voices. So, don't go into reading BELLMAN & BLACK hoping for THE THIRTEENTH TALE part deux. Instead, think of BELLMAN & BLACK as the novel that Setterfield's Vida Winter would have written for a long dark winter night.

Like the uncompromising Vida herself, BELLMAN & BLACK is the sort of novel people are either going to love or hate. I adored it. It is seriously creepy, with one of the most perfectly written endings I've ever read. It made me cry. It made me think. It spoke to my particular condition and obsessions, especially regarding Victorian life.

BELLMAN & BLACK offers a rook's eye view--memory and thought--of the human condition via the work-obsessed William Bellman. Because of this, the novel read more as an allegory than as a story with living, breathing characters I truly grew to know intimately. I see this structural choice as BELLMAN & BLACK's strength and weakness--the narrative distance Diane Setterfield chose, though I understand her creative reasons for doing so. That written, after finishing BELLMAN & BLACK, I woke up in middle of the night thinking about the novel, especially the ending, and am still thinking about it several days later. There's a lot in the novel to mull, much which makes more sense after finishing than it did when I first read through. It's one of those novels that "grows" in the mind after finishing in a decidedly good way.

Bottom line: I feel haunted by BELLMAN & BLACK as well as transformed by reading it. It's a devastating and beautifully written novel, but its tricky, understated structure may put some readers off. Yet, the more I think about BELLMAN & BLACK, the more powerful a novel I'm deciding it is. I'm really glad I read it.

Review copy provided courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books.

Bellman & Black
Setterfield, Diane
Bellman and Black is an engaging read, in the sense that it brings the reader beyond the written page. the publisher contributed the story to be a ghost story, but i find it on par with an Edgar Allen Poe story. Its dark subtext, its breath of meaning is so beyond the modern tale. Bellman is a boy, the forgotten son abandoned by his father at a young age, and left to find his place in the world. His struggles are symbolized by the life he leads, the ideals are expressed in poetry, and song, in struggle and triumph, eclipsed by images of rooks, and death. This is a moving tale, of over coming great obstacles but also of loss and grief, purpose and life.... It is a dark tale, but one that absorbs the reader. In broad strokes it shows the industrial age, and the great movement of business, and men but ties it to a mythology that Poe would find endearing, and engaging.