The Well — Gene Kemp

Drawing on the author's memories of her own childhood, Gene Kemp's The Well is the account of Annie Sutton's growing up in a Midlands village during the years before the Second World War. Peopled with Annie's parents, her much-loved if sometimes bossy brother Tom, and three grown-up sisters, this hilarious yet perceptive book captures perfectly Annie's child's-eye view of the world. It is yet more proof of Gene Kemp's prodigious writing talent; as written in the Guardian, 'Gene Kemp is faultless on the mysterious, transient vocabulary of the young'.