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A review by felinity
The Well by Catherine Chanter
5.0
Within the first few pages you become aware that this isn't quite our world. We're introduced to a character called Ruth who has been returned to house arrest at The Well, though we don't know what she's done or why she's been released, or even how different this world is. All we know is that there's a terrible drought, and that for some reason The Well is somehow exempt, the only place where the water table and land are replenished by rainfall, the only place where grass is green, flowers still grow, and a stream still runs.
Ruth and Mark were happy, escaping the city for a rural paradise - or so they thought. Gradually the full story is revealed: what happened to their dream home after 22 years of marriage and the beginning of a new life, what it's like when your fields are green and plentiful while the rest of the country suffers a pervading drought, when your neighbours go bankrupt while you feast. As the events unfold, told through Ruth's recollections - or hallucinations - we see the contrast between then and now, memories intruding on her reality, death and wariness surrounding her, as we all question her mental state.
I can't explain the feel of this, except to say it's similar to some of Margaret Atwood's writings. Ruth's voice is clear though her thoughts are filled with confusion mixed with certainty, swirling around within the beautiful isolation of The Well; all the raw truths, the ones we think but don't say. The ominous tone, with its sense of foreboding, draws us in with a sense of expectation, leaving us to watch as Ruth dissolves; we can't look away, must see the resolution, whether or how she survives.
I often felt that I needed a break from this book yet I couldn't tear myself away. Ruth's journey, with increasingly leaden feet, grew harder for her to bear, but there was a glimmer of something that kept her going, and kept me at her side.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ruth and Mark were happy, escaping the city for a rural paradise - or so they thought. Gradually the full story is revealed: what happened to their dream home after 22 years of marriage and the beginning of a new life, what it's like when your fields are green and plentiful while the rest of the country suffers a pervading drought, when your neighbours go bankrupt while you feast. As the events unfold, told through Ruth's recollections - or hallucinations - we see the contrast between then and now, memories intruding on her reality, death and wariness surrounding her, as we all question her mental state.
I can't explain the feel of this, except to say it's similar to some of Margaret Atwood's writings. Ruth's voice is clear though her thoughts are filled with confusion mixed with certainty, swirling around within the beautiful isolation of The Well; all the raw truths, the ones we think but don't say. The ominous tone, with its sense of foreboding, draws us in with a sense of expectation, leaving us to watch as Ruth dissolves; we can't look away, must see the resolution, whether or how she survives.
I often felt that I needed a break from this book yet I couldn't tear myself away. Ruth's journey, with increasingly leaden feet, grew harder for her to bear, but there was a glimmer of something that kept her going, and kept me at her side.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.