The Snakes
by Sadie Jones
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 7 Mar 2019 | Archive Date 6 Apr 2019
Random House UK, Vintage Publishing | Chatto & Windus
Talking about this book? Use #TheSnakes #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Read the all-consuming story of a family whose worst sins come back to bite them from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Outcast
‘A menacing beautifully written novel’ Guardian
‘Unsettling, thought-provoking’ Heat
Bea and Dan, recently married, rent out their tiny flat to escape London for a few precious months. Driving through France they visit Bea’s dropout brother Alex at the hotel he runs in Burgundy. Disturbingly, they find him all alone and the ramshackle hotel deserted, apart from the nest of snakes in the attic.
When Alex and Bea’s parents make a surprise visit, Dan can’t understand why Bea is so appalled, or why she’s never wanted him to know them; Liv and Griff Adamson are charming, and rich. They are the richest people he has ever met. Maybe Bea’s ashamed of him, or maybe she regrets the secrets she’s been keeping.
Tragedy strikes suddenly, brutally, and in its aftermath the family is stripped back to its rotten core, and now neither Bea nor Alex can escape…
‘Both a cautionary tale and a pitch-black race-to-the-end thriller’ Guardian Season’s Readings
‘A thrillingly good read’ Elizabeth Day, author of The Party
‘A twisty delight of a novel, a cracking page turner that has much to say about modern life and our attempts to find a way to navigate it, no matter where we come from’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781784742553 |
| PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 352 |
Featured Reviews
Andrea H, Book Trade Professional
Thank you to Random House UK, Sadie Jones and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Snakes.
This was a roller-coaster of a novel, simply because it was difficult to pin down the real theme. By the time I reached the ending I decided The Snakes were those who preyed on money because it was all they cared about rather than the actual snakes at the property. Bea and Dan are a strange couple because I couldn't work out whether they actually liked each other. I feel Bea loved him, his beauty is referred to more than once against her own plainness, but he doesn't seem to return it and seems irritated by her. Beatrice has risen above her parents adoration of wealth with a decision to live as frugally and as 'normally' as possible, yet later on she is persuaded by Dan to dig into her trust fund because he almost persuades her it's the only way he'll hang around. Is he a snake too? i think he is, and he is as guilty of the desire for money as Bea's parents. I also feel that her wish to do good in the world as a psychotherapist is brought into question because she allows her mother's abuse of Alex, her brother, to go unpunished. Would she not have wanted Viv to be brought to justice after what she did to her seemingly harmless, or at least a danger only to himself, brother? Having said all of that this is a novel that makes you think. The ending was pretty horrific and wasn't the one I'd expected, simply because there was no real answer to the question. The love of money seems to win out here, and it's fine for it to do so because we live in a world where it happens all the time. This is a complicated read, but I believe it is written in a way that makes the reader want to continue to the end. I've read too many that don't!
Annette F, Reviewer
I do not know how to review this without giving anything away. I did not have any expectations as to what genre it belonged to and only scanned the blurb briefly. Suffice it to say that I was very surprised and impressed by the quality of the writing and the way the plot unfolded, keeping me gripped throughout. I would recommend others to read it blind as I did.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
