Description

Notes on The Dark Well

The Dark Well tells the story of Louisa an impoverished young widow who hopes to survive in Edwardian England as a companion to gentlewomen. She goes to Glastonbury in 1903 to care for her aunt and while there she experiences the stories of the keepers of a sacred well that has been unrecognised for many centuries.

This well was once one of three sacred wells on the sacred island of Avalon and while the others, the red and the white, are known to this day, this black one, used for scrying or seeing into the future, has lain unrecognised for centuries.

Each chapter tells the tale of a guardian, or keeper of the well, dating from long ago in the late Neolithic time, through early Bronze Age, the Roman occupation, the Romans departure, the time of the Druids and the arrival of the Christian church, the building of the great abbey church, the Black Death, dissolution of the monasteries and the contamination of the well.

Interweaving through the tales is the story of Louisa, who has known great tragedy and assumes there will be no more love or happiness in her life, but eventually realises this will be possible.