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The Well and the Mine
The Well and the Mine
Author: Gin Phillips
In 1931 Carbon Hill, a small Alabama coal-mining town, nine-year-old Tess Moore watches a woman shove the cover off the family well and toss in a baby without a word. For the Moore family, focused on helping anyone in need during the Great Depression, the apparent murder forces them to face the darker side of their community and question the mot...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780976631170
ISBN-10: 0976631172
Publication Date: 2/28/2008
Pages: 300
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 44

4 stars, based on 44 ratings
Publisher: 1952
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

txhockeymom avatar reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
This book is about a family in Alabama during the depression. The story begins with a baby being dropped into the family well. Although that really isn't the main theme of the story, it is interwoven through the narrative. This is a book about a family struggling to survive in hard times. It is about compassion for your fellow man. It is about the doubts of a young girl who wonders whether there is something else in her future besides being a wife and mother. Also, race relations, and labor struggles, hopes, dreams and disappointments. I know that sounds like a lot to cover in one story, but it is very well written and compelling. I am the granddaughter of coalminers, so I found that part of the story especially interesting.

I loved the story of this family, especially the relationship between the parents and their children. The struggles of the family in hard times were long and difficult, and yet the parents taught by example the need to always be compassionate and charitable, even though you have very little of your own.
reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Oh my gosh!I almost feel sorry for this author,this is her first book and it is amazing! It will be very hard for her next book to compare to this.Everytime I opened it and began reading,I was transported right on this familys front porch,with a sweaty canning jar full of super sweet tea,sitting in an old ladder back chair with the seat almost busted through,eavesdropping on all the secrets and stories this family had to tell! I hated to see the book end!
bellasgranny avatar reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 468 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Gin Phillips's debut novel is terrific. Told in several voices, it is set in Alabama in a mining town during the Depression. It is a story about a baby thrown down a well, the Moore family, and their friends and neighbors. It gives you a glimpse of how some people survived, just barely, during the Depression. Virgie and Tess Moore are quite engaging characters, as are the secondary characters. It is very well written and I look forward to her next novel.
taaza avatar reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 56 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
A wonderfully rich period piece about the drowning of an infant baby in a well and the mystery that surrounds the unfortunate death. You will view the unfolding events through 9 year-old Tess's eyes and you will feel as if you are in her mind and right there living in the 1930's Alabama's small town coal-mining country. A touching novel from a gifted debut author, highly recommended.
reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 54 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is a beautifully written book... A story about family living under some of the most trying conditions, during a difficult era, and still managing to keep their love, values and humor. It's a book that any reader can take something from and apply it to their own life... Gratitude for our plentitude, compassion for those less fortunate, standing in your own values when others would have you compromise them, embracing the simple things in life and, perhaps most importantly, remembering that love, above all else, is what really matters.

Kudos to Gin Phillips for a great first novel. I'll look forward to more from this author and won't hesitate to recommend it to my friends and fellow book lovers.

Two thumbs up.
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reviewed The Well and the Mine on
One of the best books I have read in a long time. Maybe it is partly because I am an Alabamian and can remember my Mother tell about hard times in the 30's. But the author was very accurate about what she wrote about and that makes for very interesting reading. I hope to read more of her writing.
reviewed The Well and the Mine on
In a small Alabama coal-mining town during the summer of 1931, nine-year-old Tess Moore sits on her back porch and watches a woman toss a baby into her familys well without a word. This shocking act of violence sets in motion a chain of events that forces Tess and her older sister Virgie to look beyond their own door and learn the value of kindness and lending a helping hand. As Tess and Virgie try to solve the mystery of the well, an accident puts their seven-year-old brothers life in danger, revealing just what sorts of sacrifices their parents, Albert and Leta, have made in order to give their children a better life, and the power of love and compassion to provide comfort to those we love.
nightprose avatar reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 112 more book reviews
Reading this beautiful book takes you back in time to a special place and its people. We see and experience 1931 Alabama through the eyes and voices of a coal mining family. Each voice tells of their hardships, as they see and feel them. They speak of their own lives while reflecting on others. They are guided by deep morals and values. Through them we are given an impression of the coal mining industry. We see the effect on those who actually work the mines and their families.

One warm night, nine year old Tess witnesses a woman tossing a baby into her familys well. Haunted by it, with the aid of her older sister, she sets out to solve the mystery surrounding such a horrific act. As the summer heats up, the community is also drawn into the mystery of the well.

Gin Phillips created a heartfelt story with characters authentic to the period and place. Her book gives an understanding and respect for these people, who represent an integral part of American history.
reviewed The Well and the Mine on
I loved the prose. Ordinary statements/conversations in the book made me smile. I also appreciated the way the characters progressed as they went about solving the mystery of the well. Very thought provoking.
reviewed The Well and the Mine on + 22 more book reviews
great book.. enjyed it alot and now passing it on to freinds to read


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