Bellman & Black

Title: Bellman & Black

Author: Diane Setterfield

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publication Date: November 5, 2013

ISBN: 9781476712000

Number of Pages: 305

How I Got It: NetGalley

NetGalley Summary:

ONE MOMENT IN TIME CAN HAUNT YOU FOREVER. 

Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But rooks don’t forget . . . 

Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William’s life, his fortunes begin to turn—and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business. 

And Bellman & Black is born.

My Review: 

I was so excited to get my hands on this and so thankful to be given an e-ARC from NetGalley. I loved Diane Setterfield's previous novel, The Thirteenth Tale, and had high expectations for Bellman & Black. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The foreshadowing of William Bellman killing the rook drew me in and I expected great consequences. While death touches everyone around him, Bellman is oblivious to his personal robust health. Throwing himself into the mill's success as well as his other business ventures, the majority of the story focuses on Bellman's hard work and financial rise. He uses every single minute in the day and Setterfield details and repeats this fact....to a fault. A majority of the story consists of Bellman's daily minutiae and is mind numbingly dull. Setterfield would have done well to give a more outrageous ending or supply a quick turn of events resulting in a frenzied rush to finish reading the story. Instead, her set-up falls flat and I wish I would have quit this book when I had my first doubts a few chapters in. 

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review***