Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Well by Catherine Chanter - Available

The Well

A Novel

by Catherine Chanter
ebook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
2 of 2 copies available
Set in a modern-day Britain where water is running out everywhere except at the farm of one seemingly ordinary family whose mysterious good fortune leads to a shocking act of violence, The Well is "extraordinary...a mesmerizing read...combining a gripping mystery, nuanced psychological drama, and striking prose" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
When Ruth Ardingly and her family make that first long drive up from the city in their grime-encrusted car and view The Well, they are enchanted by a jewel of a farm that appears to offer everything they need: an opportunity for Ruth, an escape for her husband, and a home for their grandson. But when the drought begins, everything changes. Surrounded by thirty acres of lush greenery, the farm mysteriously thrives while the world outside crumbles under the longest dry spell in recorded history. No one, including the owners, understands why.

But The Well's unique glory comes at a terrible 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, grandmother and child—all these forces lead to a shocking crime. Accusations of witchcraft, wrongdoing, and murder envelop the family until their paradise becomes a prison.

A beautifully written debut novel that "channels Margaret Atwood and Gillian Flynn, creating a story that's speculative and suspenseful" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), The Well is an utterly haunting meditation on the fragile nature of our relationships with each other and the places we call home.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 19, 2015

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781476772783
      • File size: 1165 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781476772783
      • File size: 2561 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 2, 2015
      British author Chanter’s extraordinary first novel envisions the U.K. so ravaged by drought that personal and civic life fracture. At midlife, Ruth and Mark Ardingly leave London for a small farm in the west of England called the Well, where they cherish nature and long visits with their five-year-old grandson, Lucien, the child of their troubled daughter Angie. As drought deepens into national disaster, the Well remains inexplicably verdant. Under the pressure from local attacks, government interventions, and media uproar, the couple’s marriage collapses. Then the Sisters of the Rose, a tiny extremist sect, arrives, claiming that Ruth is the chosen one who helps bring rain and demanding the Well be cleared of men. Thousands start following their worship online. Ruth is drawn so deeply into their beliefs that she begins to have religious visions. Might she have committed a murder in a mystical state? Combining gripping mystery, nuanced psychological drama, and striking prose, this debut is a mesmerizing read. Agent: Rachel Mills, Peters Fraser & Dunlop (U.K.).

    • Library Journal

      February 15, 2015

      Fortysomething couple Ruth and Mark leave behind exhausting work schedules and criminal accusations in London to make a fresh start at a small farm in the English countryside. Their new home is named the Well after a mysterious water source on the property that has never run dry. As their land continues to flourish inexplicably in a country beset with a decade-long drought, the couple find themselves surrounded by hostilities once more. Ruth and Mark attempt to farm while battling with the media, angry neighbors, and devout cults come to worship the rain. Relationships, both familiar and spiritual, buckle under the tension. In the end, the pair's blessings prove fatal and they realize how much they had to lose. VERDICT This timely mix of environmental and psychological storytelling illustrates how in an era of increasing climate change ecological dramas become family dramas. This powerful novel is more emotional than political, but as a story foreshadowing a very possible future, it will strike a chord with readers of fiction and nonfiction alike. [See "Editors' Spring Picks," p. 35.--Ed.]--Catherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading