Literary Agent

The Well

by Elizabeth Jolley

Miss Hester Harper, middle-aged and eccentric, brings Katherine into her emotionally impoverished life. Together they sew, cook gourmet dishes for two, run the farm, make music and throw dirty dishes down the well. One night, driving along the deserted track that leads to the farm, they run into a mysterious creature. They heave the body from the roo bar and dump it into the farm’s deep well. But the voice of the injured intruder will not be stilled and, most disturbing of all, the closer Katherine is drawn to the edge of the well, the farther away she gets from Hester.

Miles Franklin Award, 1986
Film produced by Sandra Levy at Southern Star, directed by Samantha Lang, starring Pamela Rabe and Miranda Otto, released 1997

  • Year of Publication: 1986
  • Genre: Literature
  • Audience: Adult