Bristol, IN — 4/8/2026 Since its release, Beyond the Well by Lauree Brown has moved readers with its intimate and determined portrait of Photine, the Samaritan woman of Scripture, long reduced to a footnote, now fully, powerfully realized. The novel, which imagines Photine’s life before her encounter with Jesus at Jacob’s well, has resonated far beyond the faith communities where biblical fiction typically finds its home. Readers have responded to Photine’s story with striking emotional recognition, drawn to a woman who experiences multiple marriages, social ostracism, and the weight of a patriarchal world, yet refuses to be defined by any of it. Her journey through the women of the well, their gossip, their resilience, their quiet acts of rebellion has struck a chord with readers of historical fiction, women’s fiction, and faith-inspired literature alike.
The novel’s ability to hold all three audiences simultaneously has distinguished it in a crowded market. Beyond the Well arrives at a moment of sustained cultural appetite for stories that reclaim the untold lives of women from history and Scripture. Positioned alongside acclaimed works in the feminist historical retelling tradition. The novel’s exploration of empowerment, shame, redemption, and the courage required for self-discovery has sparked meaningful conversation among readers who see in Photine not a cautionary figure from antiquity, but a woman strikingly, stubbornly contemporary. Beyond the Well is at once a portrait of a specific time and a story without an expiration date.
About the Author
Dr. Lauree Brown holds a PhD in metaphysical theology and has built her writing life around recovering the stories of women history chose to ignore. Her academic grounding in psychology and anthropology, combined with her personal journey through and beyond trauma, shapes how she renders her characters, as whole, intelligent, and fiercely human beings whose inner lives are as complex as the societies that sought to contain them.
In Beyond the Well, Brown brings that same rigor and empathy to Photine, the Samaritan woman of Scripture, reconstructing her not as a theological footnote but as a fully realized woman moving through power, loss, and self-determination in an unforgiving world. Her approach is at once scholarly and deeply personal, grounded in historical research, animated by the conviction that struggle can be a source of profound strength, and devoted to giving voice to women whose courage has always outlasted the silence imposed on them.
To request interviews, review copies, or media appearances, please contact:
Dr. Lauree Brown
Parker Publishers
