A review by lupingirl1973
Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

4.0

I loved this. It's creepy, in a Gothic novel sort of way. It's not a scary book by any means, unless you consider contemplating Death to be scary. It put me very much in mind of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I also loved. I would go so far as to say that if you didn't care for that one, you probably won't like this one much, either. It has a very similar feel about it.

Mr. Bellman is the protagonist here and as a boy, sets the arc of his life into motion when he kills a rook. He spends much of his life forgetting and only comes to remember and understand at the end. Black is an ominous and mysterious figure on the fringes of Bellman's life - a figure he alternately forgets and fears, dreads and seeks out.

This is a beautiful book. It won't be every reader's cup of tea, but it's a story that pays off at the end.