The Well and the Mine
Author(s): Gin Phillips
An assured, inspiring debut which demonstrates the power of the human spirit to give comfort in times of hardship. In 1931 Carbon Hill, a small Alabama coal-mining town, nine-year-old Tess Moore watches from the darkness of her back porch as a strange woman lifts the cover off the family well and tosses a baby in without a word. It is the height of the Depression; while Tess's father, Albert, performs backbreaking and dangerous work at the mine, her mother, Leta, makes do without meat on her table. But the family are luckier than most; the food they can grow on their plot of land has so far saved them from the crippling poverty and near-starvation that besets their neighbours. As Tess tries to unravel the mystery of the woman at the well, a portrait emerges of a family and a community struggling to survive the darkest of times. Resonant, vivid and clear-eyed in its portrayal of both the best and the worst of human nature, The Well and the Mine is a stunning novel about love, hope and the importance of doing the right thing.
Product Information
** 'Gripping' Red ** 'A lovely, subtle novel, a moving portrait of the Depression-era American south' Observer ** 'A gentle, thoughtful and moving book' Psychologies ** 'Phillips portrays the characters with uncommon clarity, demonstrating human nature at its best and worst. The result is a book that triumphs on the insight as much as the lyricism of its narrative' Easy Living ** 'A gripping evocation of hard times and unquenchable hope ... A tender-hearted, involving tale of a hard-scrabble existence in a mining town in 1930s Alabama ... A vibrant novel' Marie Claire ** 'The warmth and wisdom of the writing make this a highly rewarding read' Kate Saunders, The Times ** 'The Well and the Mine doesn't just give you characters who'll stay with you - it gives you a whole world' Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe ** 'A tight-knit miner's family struggles against poverty ... Phillips fully enters the lives of her honorable characters and brings them vibrantly to the page' Publishers' Weekly ** 'Gripping' Red ** 'A dazzling new novelist ... A bold debut, full of heart' O, the Oprah Magazine **'Beautiful and gracefully written - practically perfect' Emma Giacon, Amazon (Booksellers' Choice) **' 'A thought-provoking and moving read' Sarah Clarke, The Torbay Bookshop (Booksellers' Choice)
Gin Phillips lives in Birmingham, Alabama; THE WELL AND THE MINE was turned down by every mainstream US publisher to whom it was submitted and was eventually published by Hawthorne, a tiny press in Oregon. It went on to win the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and the paperback rights went to Penguin US.
General Fields
- :
- : Little, Brown Book Group
- : Virago Press Ltd
- : 01 February 2010
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 October 2010
- : books
Special Fields
- : Gin Phillips
- : Paperback
- : 1
- : 813.6
- : 288
