On the Shelf: Bellman & Black

BELLMAN & BLACK | Diane Setterfield | Bond Street Books | October 2013

Bellman & Black is a heart-thumpingly perfect ghost story, beautifully and irresistibly written, its ratcheting tension exquisitely calibrated line by line. Its hero is William Bellman, who, as a boy of 11, killed a shiny black rook with a catapult, and who grew up to be someone, his neighbours think, who "could go to the good or the bad." And indeed, although William Bellman's life at first seems blessed — he has a happy marriage to a beautiful woman, becomes father to a brood of bright, strong children, and thrives in business — one by one, people around him die. And at each funeral, he is startled to see a strange man in black, smiling at him. At first, the dead are distant relatives, but eventually his own children die, and then his wife, leaving behind only one child, his favourite, Dora. Unhinged by grief, William gets drunk and stumbles to his wife's fresh grave—and who should be there waiting, but the smiling stranger in black. The stranger has a proposition for William — a mysterious business called "Bellman & Black"...

Sometimes when you first hold a book in your hands, you know it's going to be magical. Bellman & Black has this quality. The cover alone promises a mysterious story. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was clear only a few pages in that Setterfield is an amazing writer. The prose in this book is astounding. I was immediately hooked after William Bellman, a young boy, kills a black rook with a catapult. I knew that simple act was going to haunt him forever, I just had no clue where the story would go.

The subtitle of Bellman & Black boasts that the novel is a ghost story. While this is a true statement, the narrative is nothing like any ghost story I've ever read before. If you're wary of scary stories, I think you'll still enjoy Bellman & Black. The haunting takes place in the words. Setterfield masters the art of anticipation. The story had me on the edge of my seat just waiting for something to happen. And when those things do occur, they are never as intense or spooky as expected. This work of quiet prose and attention to detail is a new type of ghost story.

My favourite parts of the book are the sections devoted to the history and habits of rooks. These aren't exactly chapters - the headings are simply ampersands - but they show up at random intervals within the actual story. It may sound a bit dry (who wants to learn about the history of rooks, anyway?), but these sections add so much to the narrative and contain the most beautifully written passages.

Bellman & Black is one of the books you don't want to end. One of the books that reminds you how powerful words can be. One of the books that will be used as an example of written talent. This story of life and death, rooks and humans, is a must-read for all fans of literary fiction.