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A review by cheekylaydee
Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
4.0
A solid 4 stars, but with the standard of Dianne Setterfield's writing it couldn't be anything less. The thing is, for those of us that started with her debut, The Thirteenth Tale, anything else is going to pale in comparison.
The Thirteenth Tale is literally literary perfection and so when she came out with that as a debut, the bar was set almost impossibly high.
Having said that, Bellman and Black has all the creepy hauntedness of your typical Victorian Gothic novel. A man, who on the surface of it, seems to have made a success of himself but on the inside he's a torchured soul who can no longer connect to the people around him which makes him an empty vessel.
This is a great character study, where you see the rise and decline of a man who grapples with his own sense of loss whilst at the same time accumulating material wealth. But what ultimately counts?
Gripping, compulsively readable. Recommended.
The Thirteenth Tale is literally literary perfection and so when she came out with that as a debut, the bar was set almost impossibly high.
Having said that, Bellman and Black has all the creepy hauntedness of your typical Victorian Gothic novel. A man, who on the surface of it, seems to have made a success of himself but on the inside he's a torchured soul who can no longer connect to the people around him which makes him an empty vessel.
This is a great character study, where you see the rise and decline of a man who grapples with his own sense of loss whilst at the same time accumulating material wealth. But what ultimately counts?
Gripping, compulsively readable. Recommended.