Undertow Publications is one of my favorite presses when it comes to dark fiction. They simply can do no wrong. And now they've upped the stakes with The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie. It's dripping with atmospheric tension, right from the very first page, and contains a deliciously unreliable protagonist. Quark, so named for a strange hypothetical star, is a bumbling giant of a man who's returned to his hometown in an attempt to locate his Old Man who was recently reported missing. Upon Quark's ret...

3.5. This book was written beautifully. Each sentence was crafted very well. The story however fell flat for me, and I found the ending unsatisfying. What I did appreciate the most was the main character and his grief and confusion/memory gaps. However without a proper resolution to the mystery, I am left feeling like I’ve eaten half a meal. Sometimes mysteries are meant to be left unsolved, but with this book I felt like it definitely needed to be. It would’ve honored Quark a lot more. I would

A misunderstood protagonist living in an ancestral home, ostracized by the town, subject to suspicious mutterings. Low level, creepy harassment. A fire occurs. Is this Shirley Jackson's 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle'? No, it's a woman who may have inherited her title (and has won the award named for her), Mary Rickert.Mary has been described as a horror writer, but that's true only in the sense that it was for Jackson: psychological tension with a hint of supernatural doings is her stock i...

The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie by Mary Rickert is a haunting tale set in the bleak seaside town of Bellfairie, a place discovered by “wrong turns”. Its residents are severe and judgmental, and they unite in their contempt when their least favorite citizen, Quark, returns to the town upon the news of his father’s disappearance. Quark is plagued not only by the town’s cruelty, but by his own narrative which he has formulated without the benefit of an intact memory. The story unfolds as people myste...

Highly recommended.

Big man, taxidermist named Quark comes back to his home town built - as the legend goes - from a shipwreck as his Old Man is missing. Is this a coincidence that at the same time people start dying? Wonderful, oneiric story of mystery, family legacy, ghosts of the past, grief and social exclusion. I am impressed with Rickert's ability to create hazy atmosphere of a small seaside town and its community. The protagonist is a character built so well that I am sure I won't forget him unless I get str...

I was approved to receive an e-Galley ARC of The Shipbuilder Of Bellfairie, authored by M. Rickert, cover artwork by Tithi Luadthong, cover design by Vince Haig, interior design, editing and layout by Courtney Kelly and proof-reading by Carolyn Macdonell-Kelly, from Edelweiss and Undertow Publication. What follows below is my honest review, freely given. I rated this novel 5 stars. This is a title I pre-ordered, and it has arrived before release date; I want to mention how gorgeous the physical

“His name was Quark, and the worst thing he ever did was nothing at all.” So we are introduced to this large, befuddled, kind son of Bellfairie, a town birthed from a shipwreck. Quark is someone whose hand you’ll gladly take and keep until the very beautiful, perfect last line on the last page. It’s a mystery, steeped in questions from the very start, as our guide, Quark, returns to his home town to help find his Old Man. The town is steeped in mystery—how it has survived within a level of decre...

In all her works, M. Rickert creates prose of rare beauty and power, where a single sentence can capture and convey profound insights into the human condition. Her latest release, The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie, is destined to be a classic. Like Phantom of the Opera and Frankenstein, an unforgettable outcast is persecuted for what is out of his control, or all possibility of changing. Rickert’s tragic hero Quark demands our pity and our horror, as an entire town sways between pitying him and pers...

I really enjoyed this one. It made me think of my experience as an outsider in small towns, the unreliability of memory, and the strangeness of life. Beautifully written.

“Well, you know how mourning is. Grief eats up hours, and if a person isn’t careful, entire years are consumed”.“Bellfairie was named after the doomed ship on which it was founded. Crashed on the rocks, she sank with her cargo of bells that still rang from the depths. The survivors decided to stay, using ship remnants for lumber. This, the old man said, made the sea angry. She’s unforgiving”, he used to rant. “No one was meant to live”.“His name was Quark, and the worst thing he ever did was not...

Overall, The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie didn't "work" for me, but here's what it did well (because it was a weird read for me in this dual way):-Great suspense - there's a great ping-pong of suspense. One minute I was lulled into thinking I knew what direction the story was moving in, and then wham! and wham! and wham! And it was generally very suspenseful. Even though I wasn't that invested in *the characters*, I needed to know how *the story* would turn out. Great job painting an unreliable nar...

I really wanted to enjoy it because of the reviews but I did not find it as enchanting or haunting as everyone else. The summary implies a murder mystery and a urban fantasy with parallels to Shelley's Frankenstein but it is unsatisfying. The murderer's identity is implied, the fantasy is buried in the past and the Frankenstein parallels are hamhanded.

This is an outstanding work. A central character that immediately grabs your attention and dosen't let go. A town that seems to be an illusion yet familiar at the same time. A plot that leads you on a journey for which you can only guess the destination. This is a character driven storyline, pulling you relentlessly to its profound conclusion. Don't miss this one.

That last line, good gracious.This is a lovely brief novel, though, and gorgeously written. Undertow Press has been releasing a lot of bangers lately and this is no exception.