Water is running out all over the world... except at one farm, THE WELL. Ruth Ardingly is returning home to The Well to finish out her prison sentence under house arrest. Ruth still mourns the loss of Lucien, her grandson, while remaining under suspicion of his murder. Will Ruth's emotional journey through her past help her find the murderer and face her future?
Catherine Chanter does a marvelous job at depicting the various characters through Ruth's eyes. I love how she weaves layers of doubt into the storyline, so that no one is truly without potential fault. The contrast between Hugh and the Sisters of the Rose is particularly fascinating, as we see both the healthy and unhealthy sides of religion.
However, it is the description of Lucien's death and subsequent portrayal of Ruth's grief that truly made THE WELL a masterpiece. Until that moment, I thought the story was intriguing but a bit lengthy in some of the retelling. That scene and the emotions evoked are the true heart of the story and make every single word necessary.
THE WELL is a deeply moving and introspective look at the crumbling of society through the microcosm of one family. Catherine Chanter draws the reader into Ruth's world and allows us to see how the lack of water elsewhere- despite their farm having plenty- slowly erodes away Ruth's comfortable life. THE WELL is a stunning portrayal of the damage that crisis (particularly if you possess the one thing everyone else needs) and grief can cause a family. THE WELL is highly recommended!
From the winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, a
brilliantly haunting and suspenseful debut set in modern-
day
Britain where water is running out everywhere except at
The
Wellβthe farm of one seemingly ordinary family whose
mysterious good fortune leads to suspicion, chaos, and
ultimately a shocking act of violence.
Ruth Ardingly has just been released from prison to serve
out
a sentence of house arrest for arson and suspected murder
at
her farm, The Well. Beyond its borders, some people
whisper
she is a witch; others a messiah. For as soon as Ruth
returns
to The Well, rain begins to fall on the farm. And it has
not
rained anywhere else in the country in over three years.
Ruth and her husband Mark had moved years before from
London
to this ancient idyll in the hopes of starting their lives
over. But then the drought began, and as the surrounding
land
dried up and died, and The Well grew lush and full of
life,
they came to see their fortune would come at a price. From
the
envy of their neighbors to the mandates of the government,
from the fanaticism of a religious order called the
Sisters of
the Rose to the everyday difficulties of staying close as
husband and wife, mother and childβall these forces led to
a
horrifying crime: the death of their seven-year-old
grandson,
drowned with cruel irony in one of the few ponds left in
the
countryside.
Now back at The Well, Ruth must piece together the tragedy
that shattered her marriage, her family, and her dream.
For
she believes her grandsonβs death was no accident, and
that
the murderer is among the people she trusted most. Alone
except for her guards on a tiny green jewel in a world
rapidly
turning to dust, Ruth begins to confront her worst fears
and
learns what really happened in the dark heart of The Well.
A tour de force about ordinary people caught in the tide
of an
extraordinary situation, Catherine Chanterβs The Well is a
haunting, beautifully written, and utterly believable
novel
that probes the fragility of our personal relationships
and
the mystical connection between people and the places they
call home.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026