Bellman & Black
Diane Setterfield, 2013
When William Bellman was 11, he killed a rook with a slingshot. As an adult, William meets a strange man dressed in black, who gives him an idea for a brilliant business: making and selling fine mourning attire. Because death is a growing business. But who is the mysterious Mr. Black?
This book is a really difficult one to evaluate. On the one hand, it was beautifully written and I would often find myself reading big chunks of the book at a time, simply because I wanted to keep reading. On the other hand, I find it hard to even explain what the book was about, because so very little happened. It's one of those rare books that is hard to describe, hard to even figure out why I liked it, but enjoyable anyway. Certainly not a page-turner in the classic sense, but worth a read anyway.
Side note: Many websites list this book as Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story. This is not a ghost story. Not really. So don't go into it looking for a scary ghost story to keep you up at night. In fact, go into it with no expectations at all. I think it's better that way.
This book is a really difficult one to evaluate. On the one hand, it was beautifully written and I would often find myself reading big chunks of the book at a time, simply because I wanted to keep reading. On the other hand, I find it hard to even explain what the book was about, because so very little happened. It's one of those rare books that is hard to describe, hard to even figure out why I liked it, but enjoyable anyway. Certainly not a page-turner in the classic sense, but worth a read anyway.
Side note: Many websites list this book as Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story. This is not a ghost story. Not really. So don't go into it looking for a scary ghost story to keep you up at night. In fact, go into it with no expectations at all. I think it's better that way.
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