
The Well
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Nicola Barber
About this listen
From the winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, a brilliantly haunting and suspenseful debut set in modern-day Britain where water is running out everywhere except at The Well - the farm of one seemingly ordinary family whose mysterious good fortune leads to suspicion, chaos, and ultimately a shocking act of violence.
Ruth Ardingly has just been released from prison to serve out a sentence of house arrest for arson and suspected murder at her farm, The Well. Beyond its borders, some people whisper she is a witch; others a messiah. For as soon as Ruth returns to The Well, rain begins to fall on the farm. And it has not rained anywhere else in the country in over three years.
Ruth and her husband, Mark, had moved years before from London to this ancient idyll in the hopes of starting their lives over. But then the drought began, and as the surrounding land dried up and died, and The Well grew lush and full of life, they came to see their fortune would come at a price. From the envy of their neighbors to the mandates of the government, from the fanaticism of a religious order called the Sisters of the Rose to the everyday difficulties of staying close as husband and wife, mother and child - all these forces led to a horrifying crime: the death of their seven-year-old grandson, drowned with cruel irony in one of the few ponds left in the countryside.
Now back at The Well, Ruth must piece together the tragedy that shattered her marriage, her family, and her dream. For she believes her grandson's death was no accident, and that the murderer is among the people she trusted most. Alone except for her guards on a tiny green jewel in a world rapidly turning to dust, Ruth begins to confront her worst fears and learns what really happened in the dark heart of The Well.
©2015 Catherine Lloyd (P)2015 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Light Between Oceans
- A Novel
- By: M. L. Stedman
- Narrated by: Noah Taylor
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1918, after four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes only four times a year and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Three years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel is tending the grave of her newly lost infant when she hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up on shore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
-
-
Wonderful story.....terrible narrator.
- By Sandra on 08-14-12
By: M. L. Stedman
-
The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
-
-
Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
-
Catching the Wind
- By: Melanie Dobson
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happened to Brigitte Berthold? That question has haunted Daniel Knight since he was 13, when he and 10-year-old Brigitte escaped the Gestapo agents who arrested both their parents. They survived a harrowing journey from Germany to England, only to be separated upon their arrival. Daniel vowed to find Brigitte after the war, a promise he has fought to fulfill for more than 70 years.
-
-
A Labyrinth of Intrigue
- By Jean on 12-22-18
By: Melanie Dobson
-
First Grave on the Right
- Charley Davidson, Book 1
- By: Darynda Jones
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.
-
-
Great choice for Stephanie, Lorelai or Buffy fans!
- By Austin gal on 03-07-12
By: Darynda Jones
-
A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
-
-
Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
By: Hilary Mantel
-
Holding
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be those of Tommy Burke - a former lover of two different inhabitants - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Myra on 04-01-18
By: Graham Norton
-
The Light Between Oceans
- A Novel
- By: M. L. Stedman
- Narrated by: Noah Taylor
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1918, after four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes only four times a year and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Three years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel is tending the grave of her newly lost infant when she hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up on shore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
-
-
Wonderful story.....terrible narrator.
- By Sandra on 08-14-12
By: M. L. Stedman
-
The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
-
-
Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
-
Catching the Wind
- By: Melanie Dobson
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happened to Brigitte Berthold? That question has haunted Daniel Knight since he was 13, when he and 10-year-old Brigitte escaped the Gestapo agents who arrested both their parents. They survived a harrowing journey from Germany to England, only to be separated upon their arrival. Daniel vowed to find Brigitte after the war, a promise he has fought to fulfill for more than 70 years.
-
-
A Labyrinth of Intrigue
- By Jean on 12-22-18
By: Melanie Dobson
-
First Grave on the Right
- Charley Davidson, Book 1
- By: Darynda Jones
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.
-
-
Great choice for Stephanie, Lorelai or Buffy fans!
- By Austin gal on 03-07-12
By: Darynda Jones
-
A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
-
-
Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
By: Hilary Mantel
-
Holding
- A Novel
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be those of Tommy Burke - a former lover of two different inhabitants - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Myra on 04-01-18
By: Graham Norton
-
Suspect
- By: Michael Robotham
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a woman is brutally slain, investigators bring psychiatrist Joe O'Loughlin in for expert consultation. Joe is shocked to discover the dead woman is a former patient of his who cried rape when he rebuffed her sexual advances. Citing doctor/patient confidentiality, Joe hides this information. But the truth emerges, and suddenly he is the prime suspect.
-
-
reviewers love it or hate it -- i loved it
- By Kelly on 03-23-14
By: Michael Robotham
-
The Stranger in Our Home
- By: Sophie Draper
- Narrated by: Emma Pallant
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her stepmother dies, Caro returns to her childhood home in the rural English countryside. She hadn’t seen Elizabeth in years, but the remote farmhouse offers refuge from a bad relationship and a chance to start again. But going through Elizabeth’s belongings unearths memories Caro would rather stay buried. In particular, the story her stepmother would tell her about two little girls and the terrible thing they do. As heavy snow traps Caro in the village, where her neighbours stare and whisper, Caro is forced to question why Elizabeth hated her so much and what she was hiding.
-
-
nice little mystery
- By lisa on 03-27-20
By: Sophie Draper
-
Perfect
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Joyce
- Narrated by: Paul Rhys
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, Perfect tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences.
-
-
Touching and Fragile - Once Untangled.
- By Amanda on 01-19-14
By: Rachel Joyce
-
Elmet
- By: Fiona Mozley
- Narrated by: Gareth Bennett Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this atmospheric and profoundly moving debut, Cathy and Daniel live with their father, John, in the remote woods of Yorkshire, in a house the three of them built themselves. John is a gentle brute of a man, a former enforcer who fights for money when he has to, but who otherwise just wants to be left alone to raise his children. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, and a series of actions is set in motion that can only end in violence.
-
-
Strains credibility
- By DM on 01-06-18
By: Fiona Mozley
-
The Little Red Chairs
- By: Edna O'Brien
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vlad, a stranger from Eastern Europe masquerading as a healer, settles in a small Irish village where the locals fall under his spell. One woman, Fidelma McBride, becomes so enamored that she begs him for a child. All that world is shattered when Vlad is arrested, and his identity as a war criminal is revealed.
-
-
Red, as Scarlet, as Enraging, as Bloody
- By W Perry Hall on 04-17-16
By: Edna O'Brien
-
I Know My Name
- By: C. J. Cooke
- Narrated by: Stephanie Racine, Joshua Manning
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a small Greek island, a woman comes ashore with no memory of who she is, where she's from, or how she came to be shipwrecked there. Worse, she has no way of leaving. As she's nursed back to health by the island's only inhabitants, four friends on an annual retreat, she detects tensions between the group that suggest not all is quite as it seems.
-
-
The 3 Face of Eve + The Dying Game
- By Jenn on 01-18-18
By: C. J. Cooke
-
In Her Wake
- By: Amanda Jennings
- Narrated by: Kate Rawson
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tragic family event reveals devastating news that rips apart Bella's comfortable existence. Embarking on a personal journey to uncover the truth, she faces a series of traumatic discoveries that take her to the ruggedly beautiful Cornish coast, where hidden truths, past betrayals and a 25-year-old mystery threaten not just her identity but her life.
-
-
Slow
- By aaron f. on 05-17-16
By: Amanda Jennings
-
All We Shall Know
- A Novel
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Sonya Macari
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melody Shee is alone and in trouble. At 33 years old, she finds herself pregnant with the child of a 17-year-old Traveler boy, Martin Toppy, and not by her husband, Pat. Melody was teaching Martin to read, but now he's gone, and Pat leaves, too, full of rage. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming, while the past won't let her go. It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does.
-
-
Breathtakingly beautiful writing.
- By Vistarina on 07-28-17
By: Donal Ryan
-
The White Hare
- By: Jane Johnson
- Narrated by: Danielle Cohen
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the far west of Cornwall lies the White Valley, which cuts deeply through bluebell woods down to the sea at White Cove. The valley has a long and bloody history, laced with folklore, and in it sits a house above the beach that has lain neglected since the war. It comes with a reputation and a strange atmosphere, which is why mother and daughter Magdalena and Mila manage to acquire it so cheaply in the fateful summer of 1954.
-
-
Very enjoyable
- By Kris on 02-07-25
By: Jane Johnson
-
Dead Woman Walking
- A Novel
- By: Sharon Bolton
- Narrated by: Julia Barrie
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There's just one survivor. She's seen the killer's face - but he's also seen hers. And he won't rest until he's eliminated the only witness to his crime. Alone, scared, trusting no one, she's running to where she feels safe - but it could be the most dangerous place of all....
-
-
INTERMINABLE.. HORRIFIC... RUN..!
- By John on 06-26-18
By: Sharon Bolton
-
A Golden Age
- A Novel
- By: Tahmima Anam
- Narrated by: Madhur Jaffrey
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As young widow Rehana Haque awakes one March morning, she might be forgiven for feeling happy. Today she will throw a party for her son and daughter. In the garden of the house she has built, her roses are blooming, her children are almost grown, and beyond their doorstep, the city is buzzing with excitement after recent elections. Change is in the air.
-
-
sad, poignant, thought-provoking, beautiful
- By Rio Delta Wild on 06-04-08
By: Tahmima Anam
-
If You Knew My Sister
- By: Michelle Adams
- Narrated by: Emily Pennant-Rea
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Irini Harringford was given away by her parents just before her fourth birthday. Although she has spent her whole life trying to convince herself she doesn't need them, deep down Irini longs to understand why she was abandoned, while her parents kept her older sister, Elle. So when Elle gets in touch with news that their mother has died, Irini reluctantly agrees to return to the family home. But she is ill at ease. She and Elle are not close. Irini knows only too well what Elle is capable of.
-
-
Animal Cruelty Is NOT Entertainment
- By Bitten and Seven Forever on 05-29-22
By: Michelle Adams
What listeners say about The Well
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tower Lord
- 06-17-15
Brilliant, poetic, tragic. Life-affirming indomitable spirits
This book so unexpected. The rare kind of book that haunts. So human. So tragic. Lush in its validation of life, even when the spirit becomes dry, brittle, and oh so frail.Yet from the well, hope springs eternal.
The story is so very original. Nuanced. The prose often times poetic.
The performance is nothing short of stunning. Nicola breathes life into these beautiful words.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 04-12-17
Kept me on my toes!
Psychological thriller? Yes Exploring human relationships? yes. This book has these things rolled up with descriptions of the English Countryside and bungling governments. Totally interesting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Najima Rainey
- 05-24-15
F this book!
I was pretty into the description of the book and was expecting something like Children of Men and in some ways the tone and mood are similar; a bleak near future where environmental catastrophe is creating civil unrest.
However, I am SICK to death of books where the protagonist (usually female) is supposedly very intelligent but lacks anything like the ability to recognize what's going on around them.
I understand characters are flawed and making mistakes is part of what creates tension in a narrative but seriously, everything this character does defies logic. She doesn't just get everything wrong, she seems completely baffled by life. She says variations of, "I don't know," or "I don't understand," so many times that eventually, as a reader, I found myself thinking "No, duh!"
Very disappointing. Instead of listening to this book, watch Top of the Lake on Netflix.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful