#BlogTour ‘The Snakes’ by Sadie Jones

About the book…

‘Superbly written, each sentence punctuated by a drumbeat of menace … A thrillingly good read’ Elizabeth Day

Family secrets can be deadly…

Newly-weds Dan and Bea decide to escape London. Driving through France in their beaten-up car they anticipate a long lazy summer, worlds away from their ordinary lives.

But their idyll cannot last. Stopping off to see Bea’s brother at his crumbling hotel, the trio are joined unexpectedly by Bea’s ultra-wealthy parents. Dan has never understood Bea’s deep discomfort around them but living together in such close proximity he begins to sense something is very wrong.

Just as tensions reach breaking point, brutal tragedy strikes, exposing decades of secrets and silence that threaten to destroy them all.

‘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

Many thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things and Chatto Books for my gifted paperback copy of ‘The Snakes’ which is celebrating its paperback release on the 20th February-also available in hardback, ebook and audiobook.

‘The Snakes’ is a book that lingers- is it a mystery? Is it a cautionary tale? Is it a character study?

I would say it is all of these wrapped up in a modern gothic, as Bea and Dan attempt to reboot their marriage and their careers about which neither is particularly happy, by going on a road trip.

They rent their flat out,take extended leave and head off to France where in order to kill 2 birds with 1 stone,Bea agrees to stay in her brother’s hotel.

The hotel that their father bought him on his release from rehab-Bea’s family are well off but it is a while before you find out just how well off.

On arrival,it begins to feel less like a make or break getaway and more of a setup.

Dan, disgruntled with selling houses is juxtaposed with his lack of effort into making his and Bea’s flat their own.

Bea is overwhelmed with repsonsibility for the mental wellbeing of others from her job as a psychotherapist.

Both have jobs that leave them avoiding the gaping hole in their life and the abstract gothic deserted hotel represents everything they are running away from

And then?Bea’s parents arrive and the book pulls each and every rug from underneath you as layers of lies , artifice and corruption are peeled away.

I thought long and hard about the title of this book-who are the snakes?

Is it envy about the ability to shed your skin and be reborn?

Is it a mythical construct of faith where you plunge into a nest of vipers and belief will keep you from being bitten?

Or is it a snake in the sense of an ouroboros, a constantly self devouring snake in which it is impossible to run away from yourself, you are destined to be that creature consuming and never full?

It was such an intriguing and deeply moving read that I will be re-reading this again and again.I definitely think I will be reading Sadie Jones other works and looking out for new releases by her.

About the author…

Sadie Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of a poet and an actress. Her father, Evan Jones, was born in Portland, Jamaica in 1927. He grew up on a banana farm, eventually moving to the United States, and from there to England in the 1950s. His most widely acclaimed work is “The Song of the Banana Man”. Sadie’s mother, Joanna Jones, was featured as an extra in various television series, including “The Avengers.”

As a young woman, Sadie opted out of attending university, preferring instead to work an assortment of odd jobs (video production, temping, waiting tables) and to travel. After visiting America, the Caribbean and Mexico, Sadie settled in Paris, where she taught English and wrote her first screenplay. She eventually moved to London, where she currently resides with her husband, architect Tim Boyd, and their two children.

Twitter @thatsadiejones @annecater @ChattoBooks