The Well: recent reviews (see below for blogs)
The Guardian (Observer): " As love and water drain out of characters’ lives, language swells in to tell a frightening and forceful story about what sustains and nourishes us, what keeps us well." Paperback of the week, Sunday 1 November, 2015
Observer Paperback of the Week
The Skinny: "High Water Mark: Catherine Chanter on The Well" October 10,2015
The Skinny Edinburgh INternational Book Festival Interview
Richard & Judy: "The Well reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale – praise indeed, as far as I’m concerned."
Richard and Judy HOmepage
The Pool: "Would you call it a chiller?" Someone asked across The Pool office, grasping for the right word to describe the indescribable. Yes, yes I would. But also a taut unsolved murder, a psychological suspense, and an insightful study of what makes human relationships function under duress that will keep the pages turning long, long after bedtime."
The Well was chosen for Bedtime Bookclub @ The Pool, w/b 2 September, 2015. Follow the link:
The Pool, Book at Bedtime
The Bookseller: Editor's Choice 'One to Watch' for the Paperback, due out September, 2015
"This is another of our Dagger debut longlistees, although it could just as easily fall into literary fiction, or speculative fiction…..and that's all part of its charm." June 2015
Longlisted for the CRime Writers Association John Creasey Debut Dagger Award, June 2015
The Independent: 10 Best summer Reads 2015, Friday 5 June.
Link to The Independent Best Summer Reads
The Telegraph: "A markedly assured new voice - its story and narrative voice will put many readers under a deliciously shivery spell"
Sunday April 5, 2015
Red Magazine: The Best New Authors You Need to Know About...
April 1, 2015
BBC Radio Scotland: the culture show - Catherine Chanter discusses The Well with Janice Forsyth
March 24, 2015
The Independent: "a strong literary page turner.."
23 March, 2015
THe Guardian: "there is undeniable power – both of ideas and execution –"
21 March, 2015
Oxford Times: Maggie Hartford talks to a North Oxford author about her debut novel, The Well
12 March, 2015
Daily Mail: "This story ripples with mystery and intrigue from the first page…."
13 March, 2015
Daily Mail
The Radio 2 Arts Show: Listen to Claudia Winkleman and Alex Heminsley reviewing The Well on Friday 27th February, 2015.
Click here
The Oxford Mail: "Catherine Chanter’s debut book is tipped for international success. Jaine Blackman discovers more about The Well and its writer." 28 February, 2015
Inspiration flows for new novelist..
From 'The Bookseller' - Welovethisbook.com "The quest to find the identity of Lucian’s murderer is a compelling reason to read on but it is the emotional drama which hooks the reader in this beautifully written fable for a modern age." March 11, 2015
welovethisbook.com
THE DEBRIEF: HERE'S WHAT EVERYONE'S GOING TO BE READING (IF THEY'RE NOT ALREADY)
BOOKS TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS SPRING
The Well is not for those in need of light-relief or uncomplicated lolz on the tube home. But there’s a reason Chanter has been garlanded with ‘new face’ and ‘rising star’ accolades before publication: this book is extraordinary. Ruth Ardingly and her husband leave the grime of London for an idyllic farm, The Well. The dream dies fast when the rest of county suffers debilitating drought while The Well alone flourishes. Naturally they offer hospitality to visitors needing help - a young mother and son, some hippyish types and a few nuns. A few incredibly sinister nuns, whose woman-centric Christianity believes that it’s the men poisoning the land. The power Ruth finds in them, and The Well, is intoxicating, but the flashback structure means we know it’s not going to end, um, well. This is proper feminist post-apocalyptic fiction for those who are still missing Station 11.
21 February, 2015
Elle Magazine 1 February, 2015
THe Well: in a futuristic, Big Brother-like society, water is running out everywhere, except at The Well. Suspense building supernatural undercurrents charge this haunting novel about ordinary people caught in extra-ordinary situations.
Publisher Weekly (USA) - a starred review, February 2015
"Combining gripping mystery, nuanced psychological drama, and striking prose, this debut is a mesmerizing read."
Publishers Weekly Review of The Well
BookBrowse.com - Your Guide to Exceptional Books (USA Feb 2015)
The Well: A tour de force about ordinary people caught in the tide of an extraordinary situation, Catherine Chanter's The Well is a haunting, beautifully written, and utterly believable novel that probes the fragility of our personal relationships and the mystical connection between people and the places they call home.
LIbraryJournal.com 18 February 2015 (US)
VERDICT This timely mix of environmental and psychological storytelling illustrates how in an era of increasing climate change ecological dramas become family dramas. This powerful novel is more emotional than political, but as a story foreshadowing a very possible future, it will strike a chord with readers of fiction and nonfiction alike. [See “Editors’ Spring Picks,” LJ 2/15/15, p. 35.—Ed.]
Blogs and online
Tethered by Letters: "The Well seems like a worthy read for any literary enthusiast. I’ll be adding it to my already-crowded list as the end of the year approaches."
Edinburgh INternational Book Festival, August, 2015
tetheredbyletters.com
Creative Dabbling: "My recommended book this month is an astonishing story about grief, love, delusion and fear. Set in an England that is fast running out of water, powerful emotions force people to believe the worst about others in order to have hope for their own lives. Gripping."
creativedabbling.blogspot.co.uk
ShinyNewBooks: "The question that the book explores is not Why does the rain come?, but What do we do when the rain comes for us, but not for others?"
April 3, 2015
For Winter Nights - Book Blog "The Well is a powerfully compelling read…..This is an intriguingly created world, full of intentional holes and blurred colours, set within the wondrous and unknowable nature of The Well itself.
March 15th, 2015
OMGThatBook blog - "But it is engrossing and beautifully written with always an added ingredient to keep your interest. I was lost in the mystery and unnerving atmosphere…..I am giving it 5*s" March 10th, 2015
Theskinny.co.uk/books - blog 'Catherine Chanter's debut is superb….." 4th March, 2015
Militantrecommender.blogspot
Trick or treat: The Well One of the most stunningly written works that the Recommender has read recently is The Well……Read the rest of the review here:
militantrecommender.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01