What do readers think of The Well by Catherine Chanter? Write your own review.

In some respects, I wish I had never read this book. While it is definitely well-written (no pun intended), has strong characters, and raises some critical questions, the book is haunting and I can't get disturbing images out of my head. This will be a great selection for book clubs and for readers who like to grapple with difficult issues. I would hesitate to recommend The Well without this disclaimer. I am sad after reading this book but am in awe of the writer who was able to create this world. She deftly balances the beauty of the land with the variety of troubled relationships of the characters.

This is a debut novel that is not only well written but tells a story that is different and interesting. We tend to think that things like a drought can not affect those of us lucky enough to live in modern, intelligent societies. The story that is told has several different layers about the affects of nature and mankind turning against us and putting faith in the wrong things. A very good read.

Is The Well as perfect as Ruth and her husband think when they move there or is the family magically keeping rain from falling everywhere except on their farm? Is the answer going to come from the religious fanatical group of women who have moved on the land and soon have Ruth under their spell, drawing her away from her husband and event her beloved grandson? This psychological thriller keeps the reader involved as disaster strikes the farm. Soon Ruth is kept under house arrest, alone, except for a visiting priest. Moving from present time and back to the time of trouble, the author pulls in the reader to answer the many questions the book raises. The book is beautifully written and one can easily picture the farm setting . The main characters are well drawn and even the stereotypical soldiers and visiting minister are believable. However, the book can be confusing as the author jumps from present day to the past, sometimes in the middle of a chapter, thus making it sometimes difficult for the reader to determine when events are occurring. Many authors present a story from different points of view and time but they are usually placed in different chapters. Ms Chanter does hold the reader with her descriptive writing but the reader must concentrate to determine the time setting of the tale.

The narrative structure of The Well is well-constructed to provide the reader the sense of isolation and desperation for social connection while imprisoned - both voluntarily and involuntarily - in relative paradise. However, I struggled with certain aspects of the protagonist's journey because I didn't find all of her choices believable. I do think the cult aspect of the plot is a realistic one given the setting and circumstances, but I had a hard time believing Ruth's absorption. (I actually thought I'd somehow inadvertently skipped a chapter or two.) There's a moment with the Sisters of Rose that, for me, made the resolution of the murder mystery obvious and muddied Ruth's characterization. I didn't see a progression in the narrative to support her shift from influenceable to fully controllable. While we clearly see the other lengths she goes to for self-preservation, the degree to which she does this with the Sisters at the expense of the one source that anchors her happiness didn't make sense to me.

The Well takes place in England. The story begins with an attorney, accused of watching porn on the office computer. He and his wife decide to move to the country and start a new life. They find "The Well", a large acreage that looks like "Eden" but turns out to be more like "Hell". Why do they have water when the rest of the country is suffering from a drought? People camp out on their land, including a group of "Sisters of the Rose" and a caravan of strangers that include Mark and Ruth's daughter and grandson. Witchcraft? Murder! Even the government comes and takes over the property. Where is the small carved rose?
You are quickly drawn into this bizarre story. The characters are well defined. Some you like, some not so much. But you have to read on to ferret out the truth.
Good read!

I was drawn into this book by the theme of loneliness and the effect loneliness can have on our minds. Ruth's imprisonment and her search for the truth were very well written. Some of the descriptive paragraphs (of both landscapes and people) at the Well prompted me to stop reading, read again and reflect before moving on. Those unplanned "stops" in reading are the mark of an exceptional author for me.

This book is set in England. Mark and Ruth flee to the Well after a scandal to renew their marriage and let the dust settle. That year England had a severe drought, and the only place that receives rain is at the Well. As the drought continues they begin to get notoriety because there farm gets rain, has lush crops, and the local farmers are getting angry. Add their odd daughter shows up with her son and a ragtag group of stragglers. Things continue to get worse as a group of nuns shows up too. No spoilers here, but it was an odd story, but well written.

It seemed to be set in the future and had all the feeling of a Margaret Atwood, a good thing in a thriller. Then, it felt like it was happening not post-apocalyptic but right now, like a Dean Koontz fright story. The details of a horrifying crime slowly emerge as the reader lives in the mind of Ruth Ardingly, an average woman of today, and tries to understand what in the world happened to her and her family - and recognizing many of the thought processes along the way. Catherine Chanter's writing is surely poetic but the thriller is also imbued with Chanter's experience as a psychiatrist. It will make the reader writhe in discomfort for Ruth. It was a book that could not be put down but I could not give it the 5 it might have deserved because the crime was too awful and happened to a small person who sounds like one close to me!