The Well And The Mine by 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.
** '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 worstThe 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.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781844086542 |
| ISBN 10 | 1844086542 |
| Title | The Well And The Mine |
| Author | Gin Phillips |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Year published | 2010-03-04 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |