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

This book has a little of every thing a reader likes. I enjoyed how her words made you feel like you were right there with Ruth.

I love debut novels and think that most of the time they are the author's best effort. This is a wonderful beautifully written first novel with unique twists and turns. The style of writing and character development is first rate. One of the BEST novels I have read in a long time!!! A real joy!

I normally don't choose books that are psychological thrillers, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this. I spent three nights engrossed in this book. What a fabulous debut novel for the author. I think after reading this I will choose other books of this genre. It was written very poetic I loved some of her choices of words. I can't wait to see what she has next for us. I'm so glad I was chosen to get this book.

This book is so beautifully written. A mystery, yes, but so much more. It has so many levels to it and just made me keep on wanting for more. I believe this would be a great book for a book club because there are so many layers to discuss and would elicit many opinions.

Rarely does a novel come along that is so unique yet so believable...I have found that in The Well. It is haunting, frightening, and once you begin, unstoppable. I devoured this novel over the course of a snowy weekend. Couldn't get out to get bread or milk? So what...I had The Well.

“Elsewhere, people were squeezing the last six months into small spaces: bicycles onto the backs of campervans, mattresses onto the roofs of cars, sleeping bags into recycled supermarket carriers, saucepans stacked one into another like Russian dolls, inflatable water carriers deflated. Set to music it would have been a grand chorus scene in an opera, with all the crowd and the minor parts working in unison and it seemed as though any minute they would all turn to face front and burst into song for their curtain call.”

The Well is the first novel by British short story writer and poet, Catherine Chanter. Ruth Ardingly is returned, under house arrest, to The Well, the lush rural property she and her husband, Mark have owned for over a year. The property is securely fenced, Ruth wears an ankle bracelet monitor and is guarded by three soldiers enforcing the Drought Emergency Regulations Act. How has their escape from the City (and the cloud of suspicion that hung over Mark) in the guise of a tree change, gone so horribly wrong?

As Ruth endures the boredom of her sentence, she thinks back on how it all started: the purchase, the rain that favours their idyll, the satisfaction of working towards self-sufficiency and the delight in presence of their grandson, Lucien. Ruth shares some of the memories with a young guard and with the priest who visits her. She tells of the jealousy and suspicion of neighbours, and the arrival of the Sisters of the Rose of Jericho with their charismatic leader, Sister Amelia.

Against the background of a severely water-restricted England, Chanter examines how relationships can break down under the effect of suspicion and increasingly differing priorities, the influence of religious cults and the tragic consequences that can ensue. She gives the reader a glimpse of online religion and the mass hysteria it can generate. This is a gripping drama that will have the reader wondering about the true fate of the young victim, and Ruth’s part in it, until the final pages.

Chanter’s characters are both credible and complex. Her descriptive prose is wonderfully evocative: “.. the thought of her is dries my mouth with hope and fear and thoughts, wild and screeching as crows at dusk, scattering into the darkness” and “Some, I guess, came simply to dip their toe in the rippling pond of drama in the otherwise flat surface of their lives” are just two examples. This thought-provoking novel is a brilliant debut.

This is a book that I found very difficult to put down. Catherine Chanter does an excellent job creating a situation that is direly difficult: creating such believable and real characters coping with incredible happenings and needs that you find yourself not able to get the answers you want--at least not right away. She has you reading because things are presented right at the beginning that have you asking why?--and you want to know. It gets more complicated, the main character, Ruth, is writing the story and you follow her thinking, actions and feeling as you go through this absolute thriller. Can't wait for my book club to get hold of it!!!!!

I'm not going to rehash the plot because the description on the book page is a very good one. I'm just going to write what I thought of the book. When I first started this it seemed a bit wordy, though I was interested to see where this was going and of course to find out who really killed Lucien, her five year old grandson. It soon became apparent that this is a character study of Ruth mainly but of others too, how they reacted to the circumstances. How the fact that rain only fell in one place, at the Well, while the rest of the continent seems to be in a drought. Sure brought out the worse in people as Chanter so ably describes.

I soon became immersed in this story, although it was centered in one place there was much happening. Neighbors turn against them, crazies come from all over and finally the Sisters of the Rose, who view Ruth as the chosen one. I found fascinating how Ruth herself, was induced into believing this, soon putting everything on the line. A good view of how people become seduced into a cult, acting against their own best interests.

I ended up really liking this book, it is very well written and the psychological aspects were intriguing. How people act and why, how they behave under untold stress. Did I feel sorry for Ruth? Yes and no, some I think she brought on herself but the penalty was one she didn't expect to pay. Although I did guess the who on the who done it, the ending was still a surprise because there is more than just the unmasking of the killer. All in all, I liked this book, it was different and in the end I felt satisfied with all I read.