This is an intriguing and engaging read that ultimately just kind of peters out at the end, unless I missed some hidden symbolism or something.

It follows the life of William Bellman, starting with an incident in his childhood when he kills a crow by launching a stone at it. William is charismatic and successful as a young man, and the book devotes a lot of detail to his rise in his family's woolen mill. There is a lot of detail early in the book, particularly about his family, that ends up having no impact on later events. William is always devoted to his work, but when his family members die, his coping mechanism is to work even harder, burying his grief by keeping preternaturally busy. Every time he goes to a funeral, he sees a mysterious man there. After one funeral, he makes some sort of deal with this man, and for the second half of the book we watch him work hard to fulfill his end of the bargain, even though he can't quite remember what the bargain is.

I found this book to be very engaging at first, but in the second half I found it kept dragging, and the end was very disappointing. It felt like Setterfield had a really good premise, but then wasn't quite sure how to resolve it. ( )

Well written. As a ghost story, a bit on the subtle & psychologica sidel . Enjoyed the period detail about both the mill & the funerary business. ( )

We know the trope but it is no less pleasing for that. As a boy, William Bellman killed a rook with a slingshot, and the sense of foreboding is there from the beginning. Through his success at his uncle's woolen mill and in life itself, the rooks are always there in the form of short informational passages about them in a different typestyle. When ill luck later comes to William we are not surprised, but he believes he has made a business deal with the mysterious Mr. Black that guarantees success, as it does seem to do. The mourning goods shop of Bellman & Black is the best of its kind. But the deal may not be what Bellman thinks it is.

I almost stopped reading after the first section about the woollen mill, since such mills were a scholarly subject for me. The love and detail with which the mill is rendered, however, continues throughout the book, and I kept reading despite the forbidding mood. Beautifully written and well-researched, it was a great read. ( )

We know the trope but it is no less pleasing for that. As a boy, William Bellman killed a rook with a slingshot, and the sense of foreboding is there from the beginning. Through his success at his uncle's woolen mill and in life itself, the rooks are always there in the form of short informational passages about them in a different typestyle. When ill luck later comes to William we are not surprised, but he believes he has made a business deal with the mysterious Mr. Black that guarantees success, as it does seem to do. The mourning goods shop of Bellman & Black is the best of its kind. But the deal may not be what Bellman thinks it is.

I almost stopped reading after the first section about the woollen mill, since such mills were a scholarly subject for me. The love and detail with which the mill is rendered, however, continues throughout the book, and I kept reading despite the forbidding mood. Beautifully written and well-researched, it was a great read. ( )

Review to come. Still thinking. Difficult to sort through my thoughts. I need to think about it. ( )