Bellman & Black
Aug. 29th, 2020 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearBellman & Black is Diane Setterfield's second novel, and the third of hers that I've read. It tells the story of William Bellman, who kills a rook with a slingshot at the age of twelve, and later goes on to have a very successful career in textiles and retail, while most of his friends and family die around him, and the same mysterious man in black appears at each funeral.
I found the setting and the characters engaging, and the events of William's life interesting. But it was difficult to tell for most of the book what kind of book it was trying to be. The first half simply charts William's childhood and early career at his uncle's textiles mill, followed by his building of a family. There's a sense of foreboding about the man in black but it could easily be the start of a historical family saga. Things shift dramatically at about the halfway point, sending William in a different direction, upping the tension considerably. While the first half was pleasantly diverting, I found the second half pretty gripping and read most of it in one day, actually finishing the book at 2:15am.
And I definitely enjoyed it. It's well written and intriguing, and I actually loved all the details about the improvements to productivity at the mill, and the step by step plans for designing, building, stocking and running the shop.
There were aspects that felt under-developed, and I'm not sure I fully understood the significance of the man in black, or his possible link to the death of the rook. But I don't always need every question answered in a story, and this one was satisfying enough without every little thing being spelled out for me.
I found the setting and the characters engaging, and the events of William's life interesting. But it was difficult to tell for most of the book what kind of book it was trying to be. The first half simply charts William's childhood and early career at his uncle's textiles mill, followed by his building of a family. There's a sense of foreboding about the man in black but it could easily be the start of a historical family saga. Things shift dramatically at about the halfway point, sending William in a different direction, upping the tension considerably. While the first half was pleasantly diverting, I found the second half pretty gripping and read most of it in one day, actually finishing the book at 2:15am.
And I definitely enjoyed it. It's well written and intriguing, and I actually loved all the details about the improvements to productivity at the mill, and the step by step plans for designing, building, stocking and running the shop.
There were aspects that felt under-developed, and I'm not sure I fully understood the significance of the man in black, or his possible link to the death of the rook. But I don't always need every question answered in a story, and this one was satisfying enough without every little thing being spelled out for me.
