For a number of reasons, I have not posted a new review for awhile. I'm delighted that this one marks my return. Bellman & Black is the perfect read for Fall, and for getting into the spirit of Halloween. I think it may be a great read for spring, or summer as well.
The story revolves around William Bellman, a man generously gifted by life. He is handsome, happily married, and the father of a small and loving brood of bright children. He is particularly gifted at the business of business and devotes most of his prodigious energy to it. He eventually becomes the owner of a cloth mill.
There is a small problem, however. As a lad, William killed a rook with his slingshot. He didn't mean to do it. He was just testing his prowess. But he killed it, and the reader understands he will have to atone for that one day.
And a time of tragedy ensues. William loses nearly everything he loves. In a moment of despair, he makes a strange bargain with a mysterious man whom he sees only on his darkest days. The results seem positive: a child is save, and an idea for a very successful business is born. But both are won at a terrible cost.
And like Poe's Raven, that rook comes rap, rap, rapping...
Bellman & Black is hypnotic....moody, atmospheric, and lyrical. The author, Diane Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale) perfectly evokes both time and place. The elaborate funeral rites of Victorian England are a perfect background for a mystery. Setterfield builds the suspense so finely that I was surprised at the tension in my body once I became aware of it. Everything seems to be going well, yet the rooks are never far from our thoughts, or the story. The author reminds us of the link between the birds and man through little lessons she provides at the ends of the three parts of the book. The imagery is superb: the doleful black of the rooks is echoed everywhere, even in the hair color of the protagonist. And throughout, William's surname somberly tolls...
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