Book Review: "The Snakes" by Sadie Jones
Synopsis: Recently married, psychologist Bea and Dan, a mixed-race artist, 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 heart, and then its rotten core, and even Bea with all her strength and goodness can’t escape.—HarperCollins
Rating (out of 5): 4
Review: This literary thriller has a deep bent toward the sadistic, and I mean that in the best way possible. The book opens with an unsettling recounting of a disturbing interaction, which sets the stage for both our heroine Bea’s need to save and fix people, as well as the elements of the perverse and macabre that infect all of our lives.
Bea and Dan are a likable couple who present the illusion that they have shrugged off the baggage of growing up in vastly different economic circumstances—now scraping by as barely middle class, with Bea working as a therapist and Dan ignoring his art as he works as a real estate agent. They decide to shrug off their ennui by taking a few months to travel.
From their arrival at the ramshackle hotel where her ex-addict brother is proprietor, we feel something is deeply amiss. Rather than make their escape, they stay while Bea tries to assess what is going on with her brother. In the midst of this, an awful and tragic event occurs.
From here, we meet Bea’s richer than rich, bloviating, self-obsessed father, and brittle, codependent mother. As the mystery mounts, the issue of Bea’s birthright is ever more at the forefront, and pulls Dan into conflict with his own desire to rise from his current economic status.
The eventual mysteries that are revealed are truly twisted and far more quotidian than any of us would like to admit. While we are spoiler free, I feel I can say that the book ends with a significant gut punch. However, it is perfectly in line with the tone of the book. I raced through this novel, and I recommend it to all of my fellow fans of the macabre.
Tl;DR: A wild ride for fans of literary mystery/thrillers. If you do not expect neatly tied up happy endings, and are willing to endure a pretty dark story, this is definitely for you.
If you liked this, try:
“Just After Sunset” by Stephen King
“Lady in the Lake” by Laura Lippman (my review here)
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