The Holy Well

Colin Macpherson

Mopoke Publishing, Yeppoon, 2007, www.mopoke.com.au

Reviewer: Phyllida Coombes

Imagine, if you can, a pool of cool, clear water, surrounded by a ring of white stones, somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. This is the Holy Well of Endackney that is pivotal to Colin Macpherson's novel. The well is significant, both for its magical healing powers and because it connects people from different times and different cultures.

The Holy Well is a novel about the coming together of two people from very different times, united by the power of an extraordinary and compelling place. Bren is the son of a chieftain, living in the Scottish Highlands during the late Bronze Age. James is an Australian, growing up in a twentieth century Melbourne suburb, in some ways set apart from his peers by his intellect and sensitivity. We follow the lives of these two men as they grow to maturity and influence the lives of those around them. Bren lives in a time of transition when the peaceful lives of his clan are threatened by the coming of others whose aim is to extend their ownership of the land. Bren must learn to become a warrior as well as a hunter, and to govern his people wisely through alliance with the latest arrivals in his land, the Celts. Jame arrives in Scotland as a young and inexperienced teacher at a private school at Taraone Castle. Thus Bren and James become connected through their shared fascination and wonder for a particular place.

Both Bren and James discover the holy well by chance, although they feel that perhaps some profound force, which neither can explain, might have guided them there. Gradually they become aware of the well's healing power, although it is clear that only some will benefit from its restorative properties. As the two men form new relationships through marriage and children, friendships and associations, their shared relationship with the well remains very important to both of them.

In this, his second novel, Colin Macpherson has proved himself as a master story teller. There is evidence of intensive research into late Bronze Age history, the coming of the Celts and Britain, Artefacts and place names. In my opinoin this research lends an added dimension to the book. Historical accuracy melds with mysticism in a very compelling way.

The Holy Well blends the issues and concerns of people of the late Bronze Age with today's world very effectively. Bren and James are strong, believable characters, each very much a man of his own particular milieu. Their coming together through the agency of the Holy Well of Endackney is a mystical but also totally believable. Each is aware of the other at certain times as a peripheral figure, dimly seen in dreams or at the edges of consciousness.

In his final letter to his two children, James writes thus.

"There are places in the world - wild places - that can speak to you... Some locations are special for some people, and can offer gifts of wisdom and peace and health... These artefacts of nature have been heard by those who came before us... I believe that through places like the holy well, we can somehow connect with these ancient, and special people."

Macpherson avoids feyness or sentiment, and his prose style is clear and eloquent. I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to the author's next offering.