Elizabeth Jolley's The Well is an excellent representation of the author's ability to create and sustain suspense resulting in a degree of perplexity that suits the investigative genre of the text. Jolley's manipulation of the narrative and of the perspectives serves both to challenge and to intrigue the reader out of their comfort zone.
             Jolley often uses change in narrative direction to create the vertiginous effect in her writing. An element of surprise is created by the direction in which the plot seems to be leading being suddenly changed to another direction. This is seen when the author leads the reader into thinking that the 'it' down the well is in fact Hester's bookkeeper, Mr Bird. However, soon after the reader makes that presumption, Mr Bird appears, dashing away any developing perceptions that it is he down the well. This element of surprise is used throughout the plot pulling the reader out of their comfort zone.
             Allied with this obfuscation of the plot is a parallel with a lack of clarity to the characters' values, beliefs and attitudes. This also contributes to the inability of the reader to formulate a fixed perspective on anyone or anything. This is evident through the character of Katherine where at the start of the novel, the reader interprets Katherine as being a innocent young lady with little exposure to the outside world always calling Hester "Miss Harper, Dear" However, as the novel progresses the repetition of "Miss Harper, dear" becomes more and more sarcastic. The repetition of these words adds an unnerving, unsettling tone to the narrative; leading the reader into thinking that Katherine is in fact a suspicious character. The lack of clarity into the inner workings of the characters surrounds the reader with a cloud of ambiguity, a bag full of questions and on their toes.
             Additionally, the author seems intent on undermining the reader's a...