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There are currently 61 member reviews
for The Well
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Joanne V. (Towanda, PA)
I really tried with this book.....
I am not sure why, but I just didn't like this book at all. The author's prose is exceptional, but I didn't like any of the characters, with the exception of Lucien. And I was so impatient with the pace....maybe I was just not in the mood for this type of story. I do think, however, it would be a good book club selection in that there would be a lot to discuss. Sorry, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea.
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Nicole S.
Slowly unfolds
My bias is that I do not like books where it feels that you are chasing the plot line. This book slowly unfolds with the promise of juicy details and a hope that it all neatly starts to fall in place. I am not that patient. The book took a while to get boiling and by the time it did, it felt like work getting to the point.
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Ann B. (Bethlehem, PA)
Conundrum
Indeed Catherine Chanter is a wonderful writer, but I wonder why she chose a paranormal, mystical, suspense crime thriller to debut her prose. At first, I thought I might be reading a story line similar to the movie, "The Village", a cult classic by M. Night Shyamalan. Was there a twist coming? Was this place only imagined? Was Ruth in a mental health facility? I stayed with this book because of Chanter's writing and the hope for an unexpected twist that really never did come to light. I was left confused.
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Carol T. (Ankeny, IA)
Promise
This might be a good book for a book club discussion, but it just doesn't click for this single reader. The writer has terrific and elegant prose, lots of promise, but the first person approach isn't working. If we're only in the protagonist's head, we should know what she knows as she knows it, but she reveals it so slowly that I often wondered if she'd actually lived through the things she was revealing.
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Becky H. (Chicago, IL)
A couple buckets too long
THE WELL is several buckets of water too long. The first 200 pages of the book were boring. The last 100 were fast paced and absorbing. The question – Are the last 100 pages worth the first 200? If you like many pages of psychological wanderings to get to the real story then – Yes, you will like this book. If you just want your mystery to get to the point with logic, this book will drive you crazy. The identity of the murderer was never really in doubt.
The characters were unknowable until near the end of the book so a connection with the characters was difficult. The one "knowable" person was Lucien. The sub plot of drought was the link that held everything together, unfortunately, the drought was known only through inference. A reasonable explanation of why the drought was everywhere except at the well was never addressed. That leaves one with magic, psychology and an unsatisfying read.
3 of 5 stars for good writing but a plodding plot.
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Norman G. (Washougal, WA)
Rambles
First, I need to state that others may like this book but I need to be able to identify and like at least someone in the story. No one, except Hugh (a very minor character), had any redeeming characteristics. The main person of the story, Ruth, continually rambled and repeated her problems throughout, which ended with the hand of God providing the unexplained conclusion the this pseudo scifi, mystery, romance, fantasy. For me, I would rate it lower, but I can see a certain type of reader finding pleasure in the novel.
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Kenan R. (Liberty, MO)
Why Didn't I Like this More?
The concept is sound - a single farm with rain in the midst of a drought, and a murder surrounded by religious zealots, angry neighbors, travelers and a marriage on the brink - but it never really went anywhere. The characters were all so sparsely drawn I couldn't get a bead on anyone. The prose was lovely but the story plodded to the point of tedium. It was a decidedly unengaging book, and took all of my effort to finish. In the end I really didn't care.
