William Bellman was only ten years old when he shot and killed a rook while showing off to his friends, Charles, Fred, and Luke. Unfortunately, he was haunted from then on by the specter in black, a man he forgot for many years. In adulthood, William makes a wager- but will it cost him everything he has left, even as BELLMAN & BLACK is born?

BELLMAN & BLACKis a spellbinding historical tale guaranteed to keep the reader up long past his or her bedtime. Diane Setterfield's lyrical prose draws the reader into the story as we follow William's life through both his successes and his heartaches. William builds his clothing empire even as he is haunted by the ghostly specter of Mr. Black. The eerie presence of the rooks, both through notes about the rooks as well as their appearance in the storyline, heightens the otherworldliness of the tale.

Having read and loved Diane Setterfield's first novel, THE THIRTEENTH TALE, I had high expectations for BELLMAN & BLACK- expectations that Diane Setterfield more than exceeded! BELLMAN & BLACK is the sort of story that you can't put down once you start and yet you don't want it to end either. The mundane details of dyeing fabric, calculating figures, and crafting a new industry are juxtaposed nicely with a twist of the supernatural. BELLMAN & BLACK is nothing short of mesmerizing!

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