Jolley's The Well

 

The Well / Elizabeth Jolley
NY: Penguin, 1997, c1986.
192 p.

I picked this one up thanks to the nudge from #SpinsterSeptember on IG, a challenge hosted by @Pear.Jelly. I've read some Jolley before and thought this one sounded intriguing. 

It certainly was. It follows the life of spinster Hester Harper, living on a fairly isolated farm in Australia, caring for her aging father. She decides she needs some help around the house so takes in a teenage orphan from a home, Katherine. They get on together very well, with Hester becoming enamored of the young girl, deciding to give her an education and treat her like family. Katherine does what's required of her, caring for "Miss Harper dear" and learning to sew - she's a natural. But living this "old ladies' life" begins to wear as she gets older.

Once Hester's father dies, they move into a small house on her property, just the two of them. Katherine wants to learn to drive, so despite Hester's misgivings (Katherine might be able to leave her!) she teaches her. But Katherine is always a bit wild, and driving home late from a party in town one night, she hits something on the road. Hester won't let her get out to check, but tells her to drive slowly into the yard, right up to their old abandoned well, and takes care of it. 

But this changes everything. Katherine begins to hear a voice from the well, and begins to tell Miss Harper all about the way she's going to get married and sew baby clothes and more. Meanwhile, there is an impending visit from a friend of Katherine's from the orphanage, another young woman who is planning on going to America - Miss Harper imagines her rapidly changing future with all these changes, and it's not what she'd planned.

This story is dark and quite creepy in its own way. What exactly is real, and what may be delusion? We're not 100% sure which interpretation is right. Katherine can seem dangerous and sly, and then in a moment, it's Miss Harper we aren't quite sure of. This story looks at isolation and repression, and the limited roles for women at this time and how it affected their behaviours. And at money, and poverty, and class, and potential. Really fascinating themes and also a bit of a psychological thriller going on. I didn't know much about it when I picked it up, but it was well worth reading!