The Well of Saint Nobody

By: Neil Jordan

Narrated by: Stephen Rea

William Barrow finds himself in lonely retirement in West Cork. Once an internationally renowned pianist, a terrible skin disease has attacked his hands and made it impossible for him to perform.

Tara is a piano teacher with barely enough pupils to pay the month's rent. In the local café, the elegant writing of a job advertisement catches her eye: 'WANTED. HOUSEKEEPER.'

She begins to work in William's house, keeping to herself the knowledge that they have met three times before, encounters that have changed her life. He is oblivious to this, while she spins tales of the well discovered in his back garden and of a mythical saint, of the healing powers of the water and the moss that surrounds it. But as the moss begins to heal William's troubled hands, the lines between legend and reality begin to blur, secrets resurface, and past and present collide in unexpected ways.

©2023 Neil Jordan (P)2023 Head of Zeus

Exquisite story well told

Stephen Rea could read a phone book and make it wonderful. Fortunately, this novel combines nuanced characters and plot that kept me engaged.