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The Bellwether Revivals

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 722 ratings · 200 reviews

Bright, bookish Oscar Lowe has escaped the urban estate where he was raised and made a new life for himself amid the colleges and spires of Cambridge. He has grown to love the quiet routine of his life as a care assistant at a local nursing home, where he has forged a close friendship with the home's most ill-tempered resident, Dr. Paulsen. But when he meets and falls in l...more

Hardcover, 426 pages

Published February 2nd 2012 by Simon and Schuster (first published February 1st 2012)

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Jan 21, 2012 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

I was drawn to this like a moth to the light – I can’t resist novels set in academic environments with quirky, over-privileged characters who I’d be tempted to throttle in real life. It’s always a bonus if this elite group assimilates someone from a lower class, hoping to mould him in their own image. Brideshead Revisited and The Secret History rank amongst my all-time favourite reads so The Bellwether Revivals should be a shoo-in….but is it strong enough to forge its own path or is it just a re...more I was drawn to this like a moth to the light – I can’t resist novels set in academic environments with quirky, over-privileged characters who I’d be tempted to throttle in real life. It’s always a bonus if this elite group assimilates someone from a lower class, hoping to mould him in their own image. Brideshead Revisited and The Secret History rank amongst my all-time favourite reads so The Bellwether Revivals should be a shoo-in….but is it strong enough to forge its own path or is it just a readable homage?

I’m delighted to report that The Bellwether Revivals is a very distinctive, debut novel with its own identity and power. Oscar Lowe, a young Care Assistant, finds himself drawn into another world when he meets and becomes romantically involved with Iris Bellwether, an undergraduate at Cambridge. It is the hypnotic organ playing of Iris’s enigmatic brother Eden which draws Oscar into a church and acts as the catalyst for a series of disturbing events.

The characterisation is superb – you feel like you’re right beside Oscar, meeting Eden for the first time, being magnetically drawn to this rangy, curly haired, eccentric/mad creature who thinks he can heal via the medium of music. Eden’s friends and family feel compelled to protect him but is he merely a tad idiosyncratic or a real danger to himself and others? Iris is torn between loyalty to her brother and her burgeoning romance with Oscar. Mater and Pater live in splendid isolation, with only a vague interest in their children, as long as their grades are good.

From the very first page I was drawn into the compelling and, at times, unnerving world of the Bellwethers. The opening will hook you as we begin with an ending and you really have to find out how we get there. An excellent debut novel which will appeal to fans of Brideshead, The Secret History and The Lessons by Naomi Alderman. I can’t wait to see what this talented author comes out with next.

My thanks to Net Galley for sending me this ARC.

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Jun 28, 2012 Alexandra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
Published July 2, 2012

Summary: The Bellwether Revivals takes place mainly at King’s College, Cambridge and the surrounding area. (Don’t you love it already?) Oscar Lowe is an outsider who works in a nursing home nearby who falls in love with the privileged medical student. As he dives into her world he realizes that the life on the other side isn’t always as beautiful as it seems.

Bechdel Test?: Unfortunately no. The book is from the perspective of a male c...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Ariel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you say Gothic I am there. I really love an atmospheric English read but this didn't do it for me. A strange meandering plot and characters I couldn't care about sunk this one for me.

Oscar Lowe is a true academic but he can't afford college so he does his studying on the side while he works a nursing home job. He falls for poor little rich girl Iris Bellwether which probably would have been just dandy except for the fact that she has a crazy brother with bit of a cruel streak. Eden Bellwether...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Lindsay (Little Reader Library) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, contemporary-fiction

‘I’m not sure it’s possible to be exceptional without being a bit abnormal too. Goes with the territory.’

Oscar Lowe has escaped a humdrum life to create his own contented and independent existence away from his family in Watford, something that was more important to him at that time than continuing his education. Nevertheless he is a bright and inquisitive young man, living amongst the Cambridge colleges but outside of their world.

He meets Iris Bellwether one evening as he listens to the music c...more ‘I’m not sure it’s possible to be exceptional without being a bit abnormal too. Goes with the territory.’

Oscar Lowe has escaped a humdrum life to create his own contented and independent existence away from his family in Watford, something that was more important to him at that time than continuing his education. Nevertheless he is a bright and inquisitive young man, living amongst the Cambridge colleges but outside of their world.

He meets Iris Bellwether one evening as he listens to the music coming from King’s College. Iris lights up his own world and what’s more, she opens up access to such a different world from his own. Oscar works at Cedarbrook, a nursing home in Cambridge where his good friendship with one of the residents, Dr Paulsen, has enlightened his reading and also is destined to introduce him to someone from his past who will have a key role to play the lives of Oscar and his new friends.

The wealth and privilege enjoyed by beautiful Iris, her clever but troubled brother Eden and their friends contrasts with Oscar’s experiences; he is drawn to them all, but feels they have a shared experience of the past that excludes him at times; ‘They were like a family. They called each other pet names…He had never been a s close to anyone as they were with each other.’

For Iris, time spent with Oscar is an escape from everything else in her life, the demands of her parents, her brother’s behaviour. She likens being with him to listening to the choir at King’s College; ‘They just relax me so much, I feel as if I’m free…I feel the same way with you, Oscar.’

The tension builds in the story as we learn more about Iris and Eden, and we wonder to what extent Eden will take his desire and need to prove the skills he believes he possesses, involving the others in his experiments too. Eden encapsulates the idea of genius that is not without a hint of madness. Iris tells Oscar that Eden needs ‘to feel power over everyone. It’s what sustains him.’ There is a temptation though to believe in the abilities that Eden professes to have; ‘trusting in things that seem like madness.’ Could there be any truth in his claims?

It’s enthralling to read on and be part of the events that the friends are involved in, to follow the development of the story and the relationships.

One of the major themes in the novel is music, and the power of music to move and affect people. Eden’s dramatic playing of the organ is vividly described:

‘This was an energetic music, angry and contagious, something feverish and knife-sharp. It was music like gushing water, like frantic animals being herded on a hillside, like all of the conversations in the world being spoken at once, like an ocean prising itself apart, like two great armies converging on each other.’

The Bellwether Revivals is a captivating and intelligent debut novel. In some ways it reminded me of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a book I love. I loved the Cambridge, Grantchester and Watford settings, the ideas discussed in the story, the closeness of the group of friends, and the looming sense of danger ahead. A thought-provoking and worthwhile read. (less)

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Apr 24, 2013 Ellie Stevenson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Bellwether Revivals does have the feel of Brideshead Revisited (although the characters are a little less appealing). It's the sort of book you want to keep reading although I had to stop every so often to think about the issues it raises about healing, music and the possibilities of both. My one criticism is that it a hugely depressing book - beautifully written, it lures the reader along to a tragic end - but then you know that at the beginning.

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Mar 06, 2013 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

First off, I really really liked this book. Like everybody else i was drawn in by the beginning, that promised so much and, in my humble opinion, did not disappoint. The psychological aspect of it all was downright fascinating and i couldn't help but fall for Eden‘s self-assured proclamations of his healing powers at times. I admit, there were moments where i couldn't help but believe in him, just because of how utterly he believed in himself.
I know that many people were aggravated by the charac...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Ruth Seeley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm sure I'm not the only one whose reading develops an odd and unintended synchronicity now that it's self-directed. It fascinates me that given the vagaries of a reading schedule that's now driven by library holds arriving whenever, books loaned to me by friends as well as books bought, that I'll end up reading two novels within a month of each other that focus on brother-sister relationships. So, having just finished Pat Barker's Toby's Room, in which Elinor's quest is to find out how her bro...more I'm sure I'm not the only one whose reading develops an odd and unintended synchronicity now that it's self-directed. It fascinates me that given the vagaries of a reading schedule that's now driven by library holds arriving whenever, books loaned to me by friends as well as books bought, that I'll end up reading two novels within a month of each other that focus on brother-sister relationships. So, having just finished Pat Barker's Toby's Room, in which Elinor's quest is to find out how her brother died in WWI, the next novel I read was this one, in which another woman struggles with her relationship with her brilliant but tragically - for all who encounter him - flawed brother.

I will confess it was the beauty of the cover that first attracted me to this novel (and it's interesting to me that the cover of this book is the single most repinned item I've attached to a Pinterest board, so I'm obviously not alone). In fact, ALL the covers I've seen for various editions of this book are gorgeous.

Briefly: Oscar, a care assistant at a nursing home, by chance meets two King's College Cambridge students, Iris and her brother Eden Bellwether. Both accomplished musicians, Iris is following in her father's footsteps and taking a degree in medicine; Eden is doing a master's in music and is not only a virtuoso organist but composer as well. Throughout the novel, Iris struggles with the developing love she feels for Oscar and the murky and complex love she has for her brother. She alternates between believing in her brother's mad theories about the power of music to heal and the suspicion that he's deeply troubled and a danger not only to himself but to others.

This is a remarkably accomplished first novel and I'm surprised it hasn't won any awards (although it's been nominated for a few). It is, however, an oddly old-fashioned - or perhaps I should say uncontemporary - novel to have been written by such a young man (Wood was at most 31 when it was published). Even though Iris and Eden's father has made a bundle investing in a telesurgery company, these characters could easily be living in the 1930s. Personally I thought that gave it a timeless quality, but for others it may strain the bounds of verisimilitude. Except for the prelude, its structure is almost entirely linear, and there are no experimental pyrotechnics here. But it's a fascinating psychological thriller, and I think the review below is more than a little uncharitable. Oscar's character is not so much mysterious as understated, and as a reader I don't mind not being clobbered by an author who insists on showing rather than telling and asks that the reader bring their mind to the reading table.

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/03/...
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Feb 04, 2013 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very good read, well constructed and written. From Amazon: A sophisticated debut novel about the hypnotic influence of love, the beguiling allure of money and the haunting power of music

Bright, bookish Oscar Lowe has escaped the squalid urban neighborhood where he was raised and made a new life for himself amid the colleges and spires of Cambridge. He has grown to love the quiet routine of his life as a care assistant at a local nursing home, where he has forged a close friendship with its mos...more

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Jan 02, 2013 T.S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some writers weave magic with words. Some are able to breathe into being, between the black and white lines of their novels, manifestations of wonder. And when this magical birth is done by hands debuting in publishing, the feat itself because something that verges on the miraculous.

Benjamin Wood has accomplished such a task with his novel The Bellwether Revivals.

With a voice akin to the vibrant shades in a van Gogh masterpiece, Wood’s characters become wholly realized, their conflicts and behav...more Some writers weave magic with words. Some are able to breathe into being, between the black and white lines of their novels, manifestations of wonder. And when this magical birth is done by hands debuting in publishing, the feat itself because something that verges on the miraculous.

Benjamin Wood has accomplished such a task with his novel The Bellwether Revivals.

With a voice akin to the vibrant shades in a van Gogh masterpiece, Wood’s characters become wholly realized, their conflicts and behaviors fully exhibited on each page.

The Bellwether Revivals concerns Oscar Lowe, a nursing home care worker who befriends the Bellwethers, a wealthy family in Cambridge. Oscar falls for Iris Bellwether and becomes mates with her brother Eden. Cambridge itself is drawn in such a way that it becomes as essential to the novel as the love affair and necessity that lyrics and music play in the plot. But it is the mystery – beginning with Eden Bellwether “still breathing, but faintly,” and the assorted assembly of other bodies that inform the reader that this will not be a simple story. True, it reads very much like a love letter to Cambridge as well as a romance, but there is danger, there is madness and the question of the limits of faith.

Eden Bellwether could be many things: scrupulous villain, genius, we aren’t sure and that question is left unanswered in the story. But Woods orchestrates the characters and his mysteries with depth, with heart, that makes uncertainty altogether unimportant.

As readers, we are asked to draw our own conclusions, to vilify or immortalize the characters according to our own opinions. It’s a risky, perhaps presumptuous device to use, but it is one that Wood executes beautifully. With The Bellwether Revivals, Woods has reminded readers why they fell in love with such literary class as Brideshead Revisited and the type of story telling that rustles them into the discomfiture and brilliance of worlds not visited, where assumption and belief, faith or logic, are vital questions that they must answer for themselves.

You will conclude your reading of this novel feeling satisfied, feeling shocked, feeling anxious for what next world Wood will ask us to visit.

Highly recommended.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Ruth Livingstone rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first published novel by one of my Birkbeck tutors. And, because the author is one of my tutors, I was nervous before I read it. What if I didn’t like it?

I needn’t have worried.

The story is crackingly good and involves a lowly care worker, Oscar, who falls under the spell of the Bellwether family. Specifically, he falls in love with Iris Bellweather and becomes enmeshed with her charismatic brother, Eden.

The story is set in the University and City of Cambridge and its themes include...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Sandie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oscar is content with his life. Born into a impoverished neighborhood where books were considered just a luxury, he has managed to escape and now lives in Oxford. Oscar is incredibly bright, but of course, has no funds to attend school. He works in a nursing home where he has befriended a former professor and is educating himself from the professor's library.

One evening he is walking past a chapel when he hears the most beautiful music he has ever experienced. Slipping into the chapel, he revel...more

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Nov 28, 2012 David Hebblethwaite rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oscar Lowe wanted to go beyond the narrow horizons of his working-class upbringing in Watford; but the job he’s ended up in – care assistant at a Cambridge nursing home – isn’t all that different from the future his parents had in mind. But a random visit to a recital in King’s College chapel, and meeting the lovely Iris Bellwether there, brings him into contact with a more privileged world. Iris’s brother Eden is a brilliant but eccentric organist who believes he’s found a means of healing sick...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Joey rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My first review! The Bellwether Revivals. Plot outine, Oscar the care worker meets Iris, but her brother is a genius and may be unhinged, there will be bodies by the end of the book.

The main problem with this book is that the author keeps telling us how intelligent his characters are, but they say such daft things. For instance, Eden (the so-called genius) thinks that Cartesian dualism is not without its flaws. This just made me laugh. A pretty big understatement (Descartes substance dualism is...more My first review! The Bellwether Revivals. Plot outine, Oscar the care worker meets Iris, but her brother is a genius and may be unhinged, there will be bodies by the end of the book.

The main problem with this book is that the author keeps telling us how intelligent his characters are, but they say such daft things. For instance, Eden (the so-called genius) thinks that Cartesian dualism is not without its flaws. This just made me laugh. A pretty big understatement (Descartes substance dualism is no longer seen as credible, the only dualists left are property dualists), which suggests he has no idea what he is talking about. I'd been waiting and waiting to be convinced of the intelligence of these people, and this is the best that the author could come up with? The main problem is not that the characters make statements which I personally disagree with. It's that if they are as intelligent as they are made out to be, they ought to be able to hold intelligent discussions. I've heard more intelligent debates on Sunday morning TV.

Here is another example, Iris (another of those supposedly intelligent characters) claims that we need to be open-minded to ideas we think are preposterous e.g. God, because he might exist after all. I just think there is an obvious response to this, because if we should never rule anything out because it is preposterou,s we should not rule out the existance of santa claus (along with all those other things like the spagetti monster and the chocolate teapot orbiting Jupiter).

Which leads me to my next point, although the author claims that some of his female characters are intelligent too, he doesn't seem too commited to the idea. You can see this in the reply of a male character to Iris's argument, he basically gives up on trying to put his point across, instead he just says 'there's just no way I'd be able to keep up with you, honey.' Honey? I don't know which bit of this is most patronising. Another female character is supposedly intelligent, but prefers to pretend not to be. Why? Because she likes to keep the peace. The author tells us this, but he needs to show us with dialogue.

Near the end of the book, an expert witness claims that music cannot cure a brain tumour. What does the judge do? Asks the jury to ignore this piece of evidence. What??? And why was a neurosurgeon being asked to give evidence? Surely a psychiatrist would have been a better person to explain Eden's condition. Let the poor neurosurgeon get back to performing operations I say.

I guess it might not matter too much if the book worked on the level of a psychological thriller. But it didn't. For me the characters didn't really come alive. Many of them seemed two-dimensional and not particularly likeable. I couldn't trust Iris and wasn't sure what Oscar saw in her or her friends. I was expecting some clever plot twists and turns, but in the end it just came down to, Eden is crazy and kills some people.

I thought it was a great shame because the book occasionally touched on some interesting ideas and if the author had done some research and book would have been much better. Other reviewers have pointed out this lack of research too (apparently the author was not familiar with Cambridge). In a way it's not even his fault, someone should have advised him, it was his first novel after all.(less)

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Aug 04, 2012 kp rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wood's debut is auspicious. His first novel models clear prose, deep and consistent character development, and a mastery of tension. Those reading the flyleaf won't find the premise new: a young man encounters a group of privileged youths and gets drawn into their midst, only to find that the sweetness of their seemingly carefree and entitled existence not only hides their own sorrows but also will be his emotional and intellectual undoing. A touch of Brideshead Revisited here. Yet Wood's novel...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...

A sophisticated and subtly complex debut novel by Benjamin Wood, The Bellwether Revivals begins with a house full of dead bodies and a severely injured young man named Eden Bellwether. The story then pulls back to a few months prior so the reader can try to figure out how it all led up to that point. The character of Eden Bellwether is presented as an arrogant, charismatic but sinister Cambridge student who is obsessed with philosophy and music theory, but...more http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...

A sophisticated and subtly complex debut novel by Benjamin Wood, The Bellwether Revivals begins with a house full of dead bodies and a severely injured young man named Eden Bellwether. The story then pulls back to a few months prior so the reader can try to figure out how it all led up to that point. The character of Eden Bellwether is presented as an arrogant, charismatic but sinister Cambridge student who is obsessed with philosophy and music theory, but even more obsessed with himself. He leads his sister, Iris, and a small group of loyal friends further into his own cult of self, while Iris's new boyfriend Oscar--a townie--observes with discomfort and concern. Can Eden be trusted? Does he have special healing powers, as he claims, or is he perhaps mentally ill? And why does everyone around him seem to bend to his will?

In some ways the novel is one large extended metaphor. A bellwether sheep is the lead sheep in a flock, the one a shepherd would traditionally fit with a bell so that he would always know where the flock was, since whither the bellwether goes there go the sheep. Eden Bellwether is clearly the leader of his flock, so much so that his friends even refer to themselves as the "little flock." But I wonder if Benjamin Wood's bellwether metaphor goes a little deeper than just the behaviour of field sheep. There was a science fiction novel published in 1997 called Bellwether, by Connie Willis, in which a sociologist studies fads and chaos theory and uses the bellwether sheep as a model for studying how people follow trends (following a human bellwether).

What made me think of this was the curious lack of references to technology fads that would have been popular in 2003 when the story takes place. None of the characters have MP3 players, for instance, even though they are all extremely privileged university students. Instead they have stacks of CDs, walkmans (walkmans!) and "ghetto blasters" (a term I hadn't heard since the 80s). They rarely use their cellphones, never text each other, don't mention laptops and rely on answering machines (the kinds that beep, like in movies from the 1980s!). It just seemed inconceivable to me that rich university kids would go without any of the tech trends of their time, so I had to wonder if the anachronism was intentional. Was the author trying to draw our attention to the fact that these kids followed Eden so completely that they only did what he did, only followed the trends he followed? Or was it just a way to make the novel seem slightly old-fashioned--or perhaps timeless--like it was set in the idyllic 1950s that never really was? Was England behind the trend in technology in 2003? Or was I just reading far too much into it, (much like the characters themselves might do)?

In any case, the book is hard to put down and is satisfying on every level, whether there is deeper metaphor intended or not. It's like The Talented Mr. Ripley meets We Need to Talk About Kevin. Plus it's set partly in Grantchester, which made me wish that Sidney Chambers could have just swooped in and saved the day for all involved.

For more reviews, please visit my blog, CozyLittleBookJournal.

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley.com. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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May 30, 2012 Kim McGee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

They say when you fall in love with someone you have to accept their flaws or in this case, their flawed family. Oscar is an attendant in a nursing home. A kind and gentle person who longs to belong but knows he does not belong in the privileged world of Iris and Eden Bellwether and Cambridge. What starts as a mutual appreciation for the organ music in the chapel blossoms into a love between Iris and Oscar and an uneasy friendship with her manic brother, Eden. Eden reminds me of one of these sad...more

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Jan 19, 2012 seanat (elka) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, 2012

Described as part The Secret History and part Brideshead Revisited - well how could I resist?
Oscar is a care assistant in an nursing home who is drawn, despite being an atheist, to a church by its organ music. There he is irresistably attracted to Iris a Cambridge medical student and introduced to her enigmatic brother Eden and a small elite group of priviledged hangers-on.
Reality dawns on Oscar ,as he falls in love with Iris, that her brother is a deeply disturbed character who believes himsel...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Ange rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is difficult to put this book in a nutshell, but my best attempt is to compare it to a literary love child -- it's the ideal combination of a modern version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby meets Donna Tartt's The Secret History. According to the blurb on the top inside cover of the dust jacket, The Bellwether Revivals is "a sophisticated debut novel about the hypnotic influence of love, the beguiling allure of money and the haunting power of music."

But it's more than that. It's a st...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Pamela Detlor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Benjamin Wood grabbed my attention from the first sentence of his debut novel. With three bodies, two dead, one barely alive, we are introduced to a world that is shocking and undefined
Through twist, turns and “coincidence,” the puzzle unfolds: marring music, literature, psychology, religion and science, life and death, with an unhealthy dose of madness. Wood’s prose flow, effortlessly, from page to page – chapter to chapter. The pace is such that there is no good place to close the book and set...more Benjamin Wood grabbed my attention from the first sentence of his debut novel. With three bodies, two dead, one barely alive, we are introduced to a world that is shocking and undefined
Through twist, turns and “coincidence,” the puzzle unfolds: marring music, literature, psychology, religion and science, life and death, with an unhealthy dose of madness. Wood’s prose flow, effortlessly, from page to page – chapter to chapter. The pace is such that there is no good place to close the book and set this story aside. I had a hard time putting it down.

Our protagonist, Oscar Lowe, is a 20-year-old nurse who becomes enmeshed with a group of educated, privileged, students. Two of the group – siblings: the girl, Iris, whom he is falling in love with and her brother, Eden, the ringleader. Eden is something of a prodigy… and possibly a mad man. Things are not always clear as the events are unraveling. Iris is both independent and a damsel in distress. Yet her manner and intellect are beyond her nineteen years of living.

Dr. Paulsen, an elderly, retired professor, in Oscar’s care, is both his educator in literature as well as with cautions about his new friends from the Ivy-league. Paulsen also holds a piece of the puzzle. Things that seem unconnected become entwined as Oscar tries to keep a promise to Iris. With the introduction of Herbert Crest, a long time friend of Dr. Paulsen, Oscar has found an ally in his quest for the truth. A quest that started the moment Oscar diverted from his route home. One decision can alter a life’s journey, leading to a dichotomy of things.

“Hope is a form of madness. A benevolent one, sure, but madness all the same.” Crest, a psychologist, informs Oscar. Yet there is hope in the pages of “The Bellwether Revivals,” and not even the most skeptical among the characters seems immune. Really… What is life without hope? The danger lies in what is inspired when all hope is lost and the truth is too much to bear.

Many thanks to Random House of Canada, for the advance copy of, “The Bellwether Revivals,” Anyone who enjoys a mystery or seeks to understand human behavior, will enjoy the ride provided by this story. There’s allot of truth in this work of fiction.(less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-read

I was somewhat leery that the book promised to be like Donna Tartt as these promises are often unfulfilled. My worries proved groundless. Incredibly good debut from Wood and it did echo what I liked about Tartt's novels.
A young, blue collar man, Oscar befriends an affluent college girl Iris along with her brother Eden and their friends. Invited into this "flock" of people he begins to find the acceptance and lifestyle he should have been living. Held together by their love of music and Cambridge...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-read, mystery-suspense

Wow I really liked this book. Thank you first reads giveaway for sending me this book. I like the wording of the entire thing and how the whole thing just flowed. I really enjoyed the characters as well, everyone felt pretty well fleshed out as were the relationships between the characters. You could really feel the awkwardness of Oscar when he first tries fitting in with the group and how Iris almost feels rebellious for dating him. The upper class of that area is definitely something most peop...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: penguin-first-flights, netgalley, read2012, location-uk, music

This book is really about 4.33 stars, with just a few little things keeping it from 5 stars in my view.

The story is intense. The book starts with three bodies, and then jumps you into the story a year or so earlier to explain how they got to that point. By the time I got back to that point, I'd forgotten the bodies in the beginning, and it was horrifying all over again.

The Bellwethers are a family living in Cambridge, where their children are college-aged. Eden, the oldest, is the organist at...more This book is really about 4.33 stars, with just a few little things keeping it from 5 stars in my view.

The story is intense. The book starts with three bodies, and then jumps you into the story a year or so earlier to explain how they got to that point. By the time I got back to that point, I'd forgotten the bodies in the beginning, and it was horrifying all over again.

The Bellwethers are a family living in Cambridge, where their children are college-aged. Eden, the oldest, is the organist at King's College, but possesses some strange beliefs about himself and the power of music. His beliefs are largely based on the writings of an obscure Baroque composer, Johann Mattheson, who the reader is introduced to very early on, as Eden is completely obsessed with him.

Iris Bellwether is studying medicine because her father wants her to. One night she catches Oscar, the protagonist, listening to the organ at King's College, and pulls him into her life. Oscar is a much lower class than the Bellwethers, and works at a nursing home.

There were a few moments where I was caught off guard. The novel is not obviously modern, until you consider the history of psychoanalysis and the time they would have to be in to know what they know. I hadn't really thought about it until someone mentions getting an e-mail address, and I was completely taken out of the story for a while, having to re-frame everything. Maybe it is because I've listened to The Talented Mr. Ripley too recently, but I had the Bellwethers in that same era. Regardless, they are old-money, private-school, coddled characters, which I suppose can happen in any era. Eden is eccentric; Iris is aloof, and Oscar is left trying to find his way through the situations.

The added layer of the nursing home was interesting, and grounding. The importance of music drew me in the most, and I felt I learned a lot that I didn't know about historical musical aesthetics. The author has a nice list of books for further reference in the back, which makes me believe this is a well-researched novel. I also learned the word petrichor; look it up and you will be as impressed by the English language as Iris was.

"Mattheson took Descartes's ideas and applied them to music. In Capellmeister, he basically lays down a set of instructions for composers, to show them how to induce certain emotions through their work - to achieve that empire over the passions Descartes was talking about."

"I look at my son and I think, have I raised someone exceptional or someone abnormal?"

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Jul 28, 2012 Alice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Secret History fans

I'm dithering between three and four stars for this, but given that I couldn't put it down and "the possible evil of wealthy Ivy League students" is one of my favorite subgenres, settled on four. This isn't the Ivy League, it's Cambridge, UK, and the drama revolves around our protagonist Oscar, a working-class 20-year-old working in a nursing home. (He loves his job, and the descriptions of how he tends to his patients are very sweet.) One night he stumbles into a church service to hear an organ...more I'm dithering between three and four stars for this, but given that I couldn't put it down and "the possible evil of wealthy Ivy League students" is one of my favorite subgenres, settled on four. This isn't the Ivy League, it's Cambridge, UK, and the drama revolves around our protagonist Oscar, a working-class 20-year-old working in a nursing home. (He loves his job, and the descriptions of how he tends to his patients are very sweet.) One night he stumbles into a church service to hear an organ recital-- you know, the kind of thing 20-year old guys do all the time-- and meets the Girl Of His Dreams and her Possibly Crazy Brother. Girl and Brother are part of a very tight-knit pack of Kings College students who've gone all the way through prep school together, and whose lives basically revolve around the charismatic Brother. Oscar gets deeply enmeshed in their lives, but suspects that Brother is more (or less) than he seems; he and Girl come up with a Plot to expose his mental problems, and that's when everything really takes off.

Those of you who have read The Secret History or [another book which escapes my memory, but is not the Marriage Plot] are familiar with the archetypes and the plot points. I had a long conversation with my fiancee about the fact that in most of such books the very wealthy kids are also depicted as extremely intellectual; that they sit around and have lengthy discussions about classical musicians and philosophers. In my experience with rich students, which is somewhat significant, this isn't true. They sit around and talk shit and watch TV and maybe get high and talk about the meaning of it all, but erudite they are not. You know who are erudite? Nerds and geeks, who span the socioeconomic spectrum. I think the constant harping on about the brilliance of the very wealthy serves to prop up the illusion of meritocracy at places like Kings College, whereas Oxbridge and the Ivies really serve to perpetrate the ruling class, and perhaps propel a few lucky strivers into class mobility.

Anyway, a page-turner. (less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-books, academia

The Bellwether Revivals, while slightly derivative of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, is quite a good example of its genre. Oscar, a resident of Oxford, an autodidact, and a nurse at a local assisted living facility, falls in with five over-privileged Oxford students, two of whom are brother and sister. These students, particularly the ringleader, Eden, are exceptionally gifted with musical talent. Eden, who is perhaps a sufferer of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, believes that he is so gif...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Katrina V. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-galley, mystery, mental-illness, international

This book had me at “Part Secret History, part Brideshead Revisited.” The Secret History by Donna Tartt is hands down one of my favorite books – it has the perfect blend of academia, creepy siblings, and the elite. With that kind of review, I immediately snagged an e-galley of Bellwether Revivals, but didn’t get a chance to actually read it until it had hit the shelves of my library and the cover art caught my eye, leading me back to my Kindle.

Debut novelist Benjamin Wood sets the scene in pictu...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finishedreviewcopy

Originally posted here, and, until July 9, I have a copy for giveaway there as well.

The Bellwether Revivals begins with one heck of a hook. While most of the chapters are lengthy, it opens with one of two short pages. These pack quite a wallop, though. The reader learns that there are two dead bodies and one nigh dead being carted off by the paramedics. At this point, the readers has no idea what happened, but most definitely wants to know. This technique of a small climactic scene from the end...more Originally posted here, and, until July 9, I have a copy for giveaway there as well.

The Bellwether Revivals begins with one heck of a hook. While most of the chapters are lengthy, it opens with one of two short pages. These pack quite a wallop, though. The reader learns that there are two dead bodies and one nigh dead being carted off by the paramedics. At this point, the readers has no idea what happened, but most definitely wants to know. This technique of a small climactic scene from the end of the book being placed at the opening to create a mystery and tension to push through the novel is certainly popular, but Wood has used it effectively.

My curiosity from those two pages is what propelled me through The Bellwether Revivals. The novel, as a whole, just did not call to me. While it is masterfully written, and will no doubt acquire much critical acclaim, the novel did not speak to me on a personal level. I was bored through most of it, a feeling aided by the incredibly long chapters.

Though I haven't actually read Brideshead Revisited, from what I know of it (having seen two film adaptations), the comparison is apt. On a basic level, The Bellwether Revivals is one of those stories about a poor boy becoming caught up with a fantastically intelligent, beautiful, wealthy family (particularly Iris and Eden Bellwether), and seeing that things aren't necessarily so shiny in their world. This plot line has never really been my favorite, but I think the book will definitely appeal to fans of The Great Gatsby, Brideshead Revisited, and Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

The psychological aspects of the story, more than the wtf happened of the opening, was the most intriguing part of the book to me. I can't talk about it too much without giving anything away, but there are is a lot of psychoanalysis. Additionally, there are some very interesting discussions of faith and its healing powers. On an intellectual, this held much appeal for me.

My difficulty with the story was definitely in the characters. I feel like I complain about this a lot, but, when I read, I read primarily for character. I lose myself in a story through the characters. Although I did sympathize with Oscar's plight somewhat, I couldn't empathize at all, and, in his shoes, I would definitely have run for the hills from this crazy ass family.

The Bellwethers themselves may be charismatic and wealthy, but I just didn't see the attraction they held for him. Well, that's not true. They represented a life he could have been living but wasn't: that of academia. Still, their individual personalities were not at all likeable; they were all very bipolar, very changeable from one moment to the next. The whole friend group was so insular and self-flattering, not to mention pandering endlessly to Eden Bellwether. I was not invested in any of them, which is why finding out which of them did not survive was seriously anticlimactic.

As I said, though, I know others have loved and will love this novel. I would recommend not judging solely off of my opinion. The novel is very well written, but simply not my cup of cocoa. (less)

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Apr 16, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 03, 2012 Ian Young rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“There is no great genius without some note of madness” runs the strap line for The Bellweather Revivals, an entertaining first novel with some dark undertones by Benjamin Wood. The story is told mainly from the perspective of Oscar Lowe, a clever but uneducated young man working as a nursing home assistant in Cambridge. Oscar falls in with a close knit group of privileged students which includes Eden Bellweather and his sister Iris, and gradually becomes part of their circle. Oscar forms a rela...more “There is no great genius without some note of madness” runs the strap line for The Bellweather Revivals, an entertaining first novel with some dark undertones by Benjamin Wood. The story is told mainly from the perspective of Oscar Lowe, a clever but uneducated young man working as a nursing home assistant in Cambridge. Oscar falls in with a close knit group of privileged students which includes Eden Bellweather and his sister Iris, and gradually becomes part of their circle. Oscar forms a relationship with Iris and Eden provides the genius with a note of madness; from the beginning it is clear that things are not going to end well.

Eden is an extraordinarily talented musician, and believes in the power of music to manipulate emotions, something that most people would ascribe to. However, his belief has gradually extended beyond that so that he now believes that through music he can physically heal people who are unwell and is looking for opportunities to demonstrate this. Oscar enters Eden’s world at a key moment, and becomes inadvertently an element in Eden’s experiments. Oscar becomes increasingly convinced that Eden is unstable and in turn tries to understand what underpins his behaviour and beliefs, roping in American psychologist Herbert Crest who just happens to have an incurable brain tumour. There is much talk of narcissistic personality disorder (readers can judge themselves against the diagnostic criteria!), but for most of the novel it is unclear whether or not Eden has some supernatural or magical ability – “The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence”, to quote Nietzsche.

Overall I enjoyed this book, without being completely engrossed. The behaviour of some of the characters appeared unconvincing to me and the way in which they spoke jarred a little, Eden’s father Theo (a surgeon) being a key example. Nonetheless, The Bellweather Revivals provides an interesting portrayal of a dysfunctional family and kept my attention well as the plot moved along with good momentum. The origins of Eden’s behaviour were hinted at (a childhood experience of a religious revivalist meeting in Florida, and an experience with a blackbird), but never really explained. I would have liked this to be developed a little more. However, I think that Benjamin Wood is a young writer who is well worth watching and I will look forward to his future books.
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Aug 06, 2012 Melee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though I'm not sure what I was expecting (or if indeed I was expecting anything at all), I don't think The Bellwether Revivals is what I was expecting.

I think it's kind of interesting I read this book soon after reading The Secret History. The two books are intrinsically not much alike, they are just reminiscent of each other. In my mind, at least. Though I've give them the same number of stars, it is The Bellwether Revivals I will look back on with more fondness, quite simply because the chara...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Gavin Felgate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story opens with a character named Eden Bellwether apparently dying, but quickly goes into an extended flashback that explains the events that lead up to this moment.

The book's protagonist, Oscar, an ordinary lad from Watford, arrives at Cambridge University and meets Eden and his sister Iris, who are both very wealthy. They make friends very quickly, and Oscar falls in love with Iris. However, Eden starts claiming he can control the minds of others using musical instruments, although this...more

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About Benjamin Wood

BENJAMIN WOOD was born in 1981 and grew up in northwest England. In 2004, he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to attend the MFA Creative Writing programme at the University of British Columbia. During his tenure as fiction editor of Canadian literary journal, PRISM international, the publication was awarded the Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Benjamin's short...more

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“Actually, I think it's the opposite. We know each other so well there isn't anything left to say. Sometimes it's nice just sitting here with you all, thinking. It's only best friends who can be comfortable with silence, wouldn't you say?” — 35 people liked it

“My theory is that hope is a form of madness. A benevolent one, sure, but madness all the same. Like an irrational superstition--broken mirrors and so forth--hope's not based on any kind of logic, it's just unfettered optimism, grounded in nothing but faith in things beyond our control.” — 7 people liked it

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