The Well won for Elizabeth Jolley the 1986 Miles Franklin Award. Having forced myself to read to the finish, I fail to see how it won (must have been a lack of decent competition that year?!)I quite enjoyed the plot, and the first 80-odd pages chugged along nicely, as Jolley established both the cast of characters and the cloying relationship of the two women, Hester and Katherine, in a remote rural setting. Everything changed on one fatal day, with The Dance, The Accident and The Robbery. Hester's carefully contrived world started to unravel, firstly due to her own suspicious nature, and secondly through the bizarre actions of Katherine. Unfortunately for this reader, the writing style deteriorated from that key point in the story, as well as the characters' relationship. I kept wondering, while trying to plough through Katherine's rantings at The Well, and Hester's hyped-up migraine meanderings, whether the author was attempting to write stream-of-consciousness style, or whether the chapter just needed a darned good edit! When Jolley introduces the newly-arrived novelist, chatting in the general store about the nature of the Gothick novel, I thought this is just too cute, too pat for my liking.One thing I became aware of, which other reviewers on this page have not discussed, was the key importance of class and social status in the book. Coming from a once-wealthy pastoral dynasty, Hester was a frightful snob, and her arrogant attitude to those around her brought her undone in the end. My favourite character in the book was Mr Bird, and she consistently looked down on him and ignored his advice, to her detriment. Hester got her just deserts in the end - loss of money, loss of land, loss of status, loss of love.
The Well centers on the relationship between two of the most selfish and annoying characters I have ever encountered in fiction, and their disparate responses to an event of trauma. The circular nature of the structure of the novel (and the almost word-for-word repeated sections) ties into a horrendously executed postmodern interrogation of the nature of narrative itself (see the "conclusion" in conjunction with the beginning to see what I mean). The main plot device - i.e. the traumatic running down and subsequent hiding of a body (which may or may not be alive and/or human) in the titular well - is excellently used at times, and the scenes wherein the sanity of both Hester and Katherine begin to fray are the undoubted highlight of the novel. I actually read this a few years ago, and the re-read was prompted by its placement on a university course I am taking, but I must say I probably got even less out of the novel the second time around (then again, I have been reading some excellent books as of late, and this one honestly does not even remotely compare). An interesting premise bogged down by a tiresome book.
Do You like book The Well (1987)?
This lesser-known Australian novel is an absolute treat to read. I picked it up for no other reason that a well inspires in me the thought of a rotting body. This story, however is not a horror story, although it does contain a body being dumped in a well, and the subsequent discomfort experienced by the perpetrators after this task. The story is primarily about an older woman living in the remote Australian countryside with her adopted daughter, who is inevitably being drawn away from her home and into the prospect of a bigger, better life. It's an easy and entertaining read, with some surprising bouts of creepiness and tension as well. Definitely give this book a go if you ever come across it.
—Benjamin Stahl
For a long time I was madly in love with this woman. I even loved the idea that, like Agatha Christie, she thought up her plots while wishing the dishes.This is another of her books in which an older woman has a relationship with a younger woman. In so many of these books the younger woman is, well, a bit thick - but invariably they will sing along to a song, some horrible pop song, and Jolley will make up the words - pure dross, but purely perfect dross. People say things like, 'she writes like an angel' - Jolley writes much better than an angel.
—Trevor
SPOILER ALERT.... Elizabeth Jolley was an author who has been discussed lots at work as she is from WA. The Well won the Miles Franklin Award (awarded to books best portraying Australia) in 1986, Tim Winton has won this award 3 times and he was once a student of Elizabeth Jolley, small pieces of trivia there :) Anyway... I really enjoyed the book and pictured in my own mind that it was a farm in the middle of nowhere, like Lock or Tooligie with a very bizarre woman in charge who had taken this young girl in as help and then formed a very possessive hold over this unworldly, naive person to protect her from the outside world. Not normal behaviour. My own interpretation of the book is that Katherine deliberately run down the man on the road and stole the money herself and left Hester as soon as her friend Joanna arrived on the farm. Attending the dance had opened her eyes to the greater world, I also think she was far more cunning than given credit for. The voices coming from inside the well and the antics associated were all an act by Katherine to steer the suspicion away from herself. I gave it 3.5 stars and will read some more of this author. A strange but enjoyable read that can be interpreted many ways.
—Karen
