"Bellman & Black" by Diane Setterfield

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• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (November 5, 2013)
• ISBN-13: 978-1476711959

This is one of the few times that you will see a 3 star rating from me. Generally I don't review anything that I don't feel is worth 4-5 stars, but since I made it to page 130 of this book I thought that I would my impressions. I am a fan of Diane Setterfield's work, but I don't think that his is the best of it. Of course YMMV and you might be someone who loves this book!

I consider it to be a tale of one deed committed early in life repeating, like ripples on a still pond, into your future..

I admit to having looked forward to reading this book because I had thoroughly enjoyed "The Thirteenth Tale", and also because I am a push over for a good 'ghost tale".

I borrowed this book from our library, and was one of the first to get it in my hands. I kept reading this book thinking that I just needed to give it a chance to pick up. I made it to page 130, and decided that my reading time was better spent on something that would be more enjoyable.

I kept thinking of Poe's quote "quoth the Raven nevermore" as I read this book for some reason.... the book features rooks. While this book does present some fascinating historical information about the running a cloth mill of yesteryear, the plot itself felt rather weak to me. Deaths. A Lot of deaths, in some way linked to the sling shot killing of a rook in the protagonist's childhood. Had I read further I might have learned more about how the death of that rook figures into the story, but I took it to be more of an allegorical meaning and decided to part way with the pages and move on.

This is not a bad book, and perhaps I really did not give it enough of a chance. I had just finished reading  book that I found riveting - perhaps I just wasn't ready for this book at that time? I did not feel that this book represents the best that the author can do, and I look forward to her next book.