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There are currently 61 member reviews
for The Well
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Colleen L. (Casco, ME)
Mystery and Magic....
Every now and then a book comes along that makes you hold your breath. The Well is that book.
Ruth Ardingly has recently been released to house arrest to her farm in Britain called 'The Well'. While the rest of the UK is suffering from severe drought, the Well never suffers; always having sufficient rainfall & water. Ruth and her husband Mark purchased the farm a few years earlier in the hopes of starting new lives. Unfortunately, a series of events are conspiring to doom this new start. The book is narrated by Ruth and as a reader you are unaware of the circumstances leading to Ruth's arrest until midway through the book.
The Well is a powerful book. It is part mystery, part magical and deeply emotional. Ruth is a sorrowful voice. You find yourself empathizing with her and other times wanting to shake her out of her clouds. You will not, however, be left unaffected by what she has to say. Catherine Chanter does a wonderful job writing about the sensitivities of relationships. She uses beautiful language and writes very well. The poetry she uses in the book is also moving and evocative.
For readers who like books about complicated relationships as well as a good old fashioned 'whodunit', this book is for you. This is Catherine's first novel and I will be anxiously awaiting any further novels she chooses to write.
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Andrea B. (Pleasant Prairie, WI)
Surprisingly good
When I started the book, I read the first chapter and thought it would be a struggle to finish it. Boy was I wrong! I was pulled in by the plot and also because I really felt connected with the characters, especially Ruth. This is a character-study/mystery/supernatural novel with a storyline that keeps you engaged to the very end. Readers who enjoy dystopian novels and writers like Margaret Atwood will love this book!
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Sarah H. (Arvada, CO)
Vivid imagery
From the moment I started reading this book I felt like I was watching a movie. Some authors try so hard to create images for the reader, but in The Well, those images were effortless. Like many other readers I found this hard to put down, this has so much to do with being transported to another place.
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Janet S. (Woodmere, NY)
Thought-provoking look at a future with no water
The Well is a well-written dystopian novel which unfolds in a style reminiscent of Girl on The Train, in two sets of flashbacks, one recent and one further in the past. Set in a water-scarce England of the future, The Well focuses on Ruth, an ordinary woman who finds herself pushed to her limit by the quandary of having the only farm where rain falls in a drought-scarred land. The reader is swept up in Ruth's story and the mystery which unfolds. Book clubs will find many themes to ponder and discuss.
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Carol G. (Little Egg Harbor, NJ)
The Well
The Well doesn't fit into any set genre although the book jacket sums it up as a thriller. The book is also a fantasy, psychological, a book about ordinary people in unordinary circumstances. Sometimes the book is too wordy with descriptions but mostly reads very quickly especially when wanting to find the mystery of the murder. The author depicts complicated yet believable characters. All in all a very good book. Will recommend to my Book Club.
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Judy K. (Oshkosh, WI)
Suspenseful and wordy
I had a hard time getting started on this book. The beginning was very wordy with the descriptions of the scenery and characters. The end of the book was fast reading. I wanted to find out what happened. Once the murderer was identified, the book became wordy again. It is a different book than I am used to reading and I am awe of that fact. I felt a love, hate, love, hate relationship with the style of the writing of the book. I would recommend this to book clubs.
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djn
Interesting
I found I liked the fact that the author started us in the future and had Ruth take us through the past as she struggles to understand what occurred. I had a little trouble with Ruth's involvement with the "cult". I felt she was a stronger woman. Did this strength emerge after her experiences? I found the girls in the cult unappealing, which might have lead me to not totally accept Ruth's absorption. The author did engage me immediately in the story and I wanted to keep reading. I think it is a well-written book, but not one for everyone.
