{"id":14510,"date":"2024-08-01T23:17:53","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T22:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14510"},"modified":"2024-08-01T23:17:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T22:17:53","slug":"bellman-black-by-diane-setterfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14510","title":{"rendered":"Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

OFF THE SHELF<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“Bellman & Black” by Diane Setterfield
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

This month\u2019s book was Bellman & Black <\/em><\/strong>a ghostly, gothic read written by Diane Setterfield.<\/p>\n

When William Bellman was a ten-year-old child, in an act of bravado he killed a rook with his catapult. An act that he regretted, went on to forget, but was to impact on his future.<\/p>\n

As he progressed to adulthood, William was blessed with increased good fortune, a successful career, a happy marriage with children. William began to experience a series of personal tragedies and at each funeral he attends, he sees a mysterious stranger in black, someone he thinks he should remember but can\u2019t place.<\/p>\n

This dark and atmospheric read was full of guilt and regret. William avoids dwelling on unpleasant memories and enters a bargain with the dark stranger whom he names Mr Black. William becomes gripped with building of a lucrative new business in the shape of an emporium selling everything needed to commemorate a loved one\u2019s death. This connects William\u2019s obsession with other\u2019s death as a way of avoiding the mourning of his loved ones and evading the living of his own life.<\/p>\n

As the author makes several references to rooks in myths and fables, William becomes increasingly unhinged and convinces himself that Mr Black was somehow related to the rook he killed years ago and that he was seeking revenge for this act.<\/p>\n

Whether as a ghost or in the form of the grim reaper, Black eventually makes himself known to William who insists on paying Black his perceived debts. Black says that what he offered was an opportunity not a business partnership. The opportunity being thought <\/em>and memory<\/em>. Lost good and bad memories and the grief of his un-mourned loved ones\u2019 deaths tortures William to his own death.<\/p>\n

This was a beautifully written story based on memories and loss. Although many characters and events could have benefitted from further exploration and explanation from the author, most of us found it a good read. We gave the book a score of 8\/10.<\/p>\n

\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OFF THE SHELF “Bellman & Black” by Diane Setterfield   This month\u2019s book was Bellman & Black a ghostly, gothic read written by Diane Setterfield. When William Bellman was a ten-year-old child, in an act of bravado he killed a rook with his catapult. An act that he regretted, went on to forget, but was to impact on his future. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[347],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3M2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12654,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12654","url_meta":{"origin":14510,"position":0},"title":"November 2022 Book Choice","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Thirteenth Tale\" by Diane Setterfield What a lively discussion about this tale! Synopsis Everybody has a story. Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family. Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield\u2019s past and its mysterious connection to the writer Vida Winter. Vida\u2019s history\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":810,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=810","url_meta":{"origin":14510,"position":1},"title":"Twyn yr Odyn playing fields","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd September 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Thank you for publishing my letter in last months \u201cWhats On\" magazine when I accused the Council of \u201cDouble Standards\u201d. I have received a response and as promised I write to update you of their reply I QUOTE - \u201cNo Analogy could reasonably be drawn between the two applications. 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