Diane Setterfield's latest novel, Bellman & Black, introduces one William Bellman, a man who has everything. When disaster strikes, all his intelligence and skill cannot solve the problems that face him and his family. But he's a businessman. Deals are his life's blood. What is more natural than that he should enter into a bargain with the stranger he meets by moonlight in a churchyard? But who is it he has made a pact with? And what price must he pay? (More about the book, below.)
This intriguing question is the premise for a recent article in which the author gives us a list of five classic novels which preach the same message: Be careful what you wish for … in "What Are the Scariest Devil's Bargains in Fiction?" by Diane Setterfield for Bookish.
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Bellman & Black
Diane Setterfield
A Gothic Novel of Suspense
Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But rooks don't forget …
Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William's life, his fortunes begin to turn — and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business.
And Bellman & Black is born.
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