The Keeper of the Wells

The culmination of a 20-year journey unearthing a remarkable family legend, The Keeper of the Wells is a sweeping historical fiction ('faction') novel by Anglo-Indian landscape architect and wildlife photographer Zhayynn James. Set in 18th-century Madras against the brewing storm of the Anglo-Mysore War, the story follows John Nicholas—an Irish militia captain falsely accused of murder who flees to Madras as an Auxiliary. Tangled in high-stakes political intrigue, espionage, and clash of empires as Hyder Ali advances on the city, Nicholas must navigate dangerous waters to protect his loved ones and the legendary Seven Wells waterworks that his family would safeguard for 125 years.