"The Well"

"The Well"
Written by Catherine Chanter
Review written by Diana Iozzia



"The Well" by Catherine Chanter was a book I found myself drawn to. The description and reviews of the book piqued my interest. The buzzwords that intrigued me were: Big Brother, religious cult, dystopian, surveillance. We basically received none of these, sadly.

The book details the life of Ruth, who had just been released from prison. She was convicted for the murder of a child and causing a fire. We see her in the present, putting back the pieces of her life and seemingly trying to atone for her mistakes. This section of the story seemed unnecessary, as we see her interact with her guards. She's on house arrest. There is no sympathy for her. There is no Big Brother / surveillance plot here. This story does not have any dystopian elements. I was hoping for a thriller consisting of a religious cult and a mad 1984-like government. I was sorely mistaken.

We have elements of law that are not like ours. "Subjustice", "Rapid Processing Regulations". They are not exciting. They are nothing comparing to other great dystopian novels. The only difference of this world and our world is that there was a massive drought, however, Ruth's farm stayed in tact and lush. A group of women flock to the farm to try to live there and manipulate Ruth into letting them stay. Ruth lives with her husband, Mark, and occasionally her daughter and grandson.

All in all, I could not like this book. The elements I came for were not what I expected. I think as readers we're allowed to have expectations for a book. If we are promised a book by its description, we should receive what we're hoping for. I do not recommend reading this book.