I was really looking forward to this book. I absolutely LOVED The Thirteenth Tale. It remains one of my favorite books of this decade, so you can imagine how excited I was when I heard the author, Diane Setterfield, wrote a new novel. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.
Well, to say I was disappointed would be a gross understatement. I HATED this book. It takes place post-Victorian England which sounds great, but it wasn't. The main protagonist works in an old fabric mill, which sounds interesting and WAS, until the whole book became essentially a lesson about this old business and its inner workings. The mystery of the dead rook, references to the Norse god, Odin kept me reading. I kept waiting to learn "what happens". I kept waiting to read that chapter that would make the few hundred pages about business in old England worth it.
It wasn't until the end that I realized those descriptions WERE the plot, and the rook and 'ghost' named Black were essentially metaphoric attributes of the novel with no real plot substance.
If you loved The Thirteenth Tale, don't expect to feel the same about Bellman & Black.
My final opinion: 3 out of 5 stars
Why 3 stars for a book I hated? Well, it was beautifully written and well researched. She's a talented writer. This book just wasn't for me.
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