The Well And The Mine - Softcover

Phillips, Gin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844087859 ISBN 13: 9781844087853

Publisher: Virago, 2011

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

?A quietly bold debut, full of heart.? ?"O, The Oprah Magazine" ?When you close the book, you?ll miss these characters. But "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 Caf?" and "Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man" ?Gin Phillips has a remarkable ear for dialogue and a tenderhearted eye for detail; you can hear the pecans and hickory nuts falling from the trees and feel the stillness of a hot summer night. A whisper runs through the novel?the ghosts of places and people and luscious peach pies.? ? "Los Angeles Times" ?A tight-knit miner's family struggles against poverty and racism in Phillips's evocative first novel, set in Depression-era Alabama. Throughout, she moves skillfully between the points of view...Phillips fully enters the lives of her honorable characters and brings them vibrantly to the page.? ?"Publishers Weekl

Book Description:

* A deeply affecting, timely, and emotionally uplifting story set in Depression-era Alabama about the value of community, charity, family and hope.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1844087859
• ISBN 13: 9781844087853
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 289