Synopsis:
ONE MOMENT IN TIME CAN HAUNT YOU FOREVER.
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.
Review: If there is such a thing as an intellectual ghost story (and I think that there is, example being Edgar Allen Poe), then this book is the modern definition of one! This is not a book that one just glosses thru, it is to be savored like a fine wine or dessert, all the more to give the reader a full dish of it's gothic tale! It's a story of consequences and decisions, and one that will reader pondering. But having said that, the book may need multiple sittings, as it is very well written and the author truly can set a scene and put the reader in William's life, but it can drag in spots, leaving the reader wondering if they should keep reading. Like a good Hitchcock movie though, things are not always what they appear, and if you keep reading, the book will show you its merits and truths. It may not be as haunting as her first book, but it is an interesting read for the Halloween season!
About the Author: Diane Setterfield is a former academic, specializing in twentieth-century French literature. She lives in Yorkshire, England.
Comments
Post a Comment