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“[Farren] does it again… An absolutely riveting read.” — Mail & Guardian
“More than a murder mystery, Snake is about the tragic optimism yet creative resilience of the underdog.” — The Sunday Independent
When a charismatic stranger arrives on her family’s farm, twelve-year-old Stella is sure he has come to heal her broken family. And at first, he does; her father stays sober, and her mother begins to laugh again. But Stella soon realizes that the man with the silver cross has not come to save them. In a desperate effort to save what little remains, she tells her story of “terrible trouble” to a hungry tabloid journalist.
Filled with love and violence, shame and devotion, this evocative novel treads through post-apartheid South Africa, hand in hand with a child who has seen too much.
TRACEY FARREN’s first novel, Whiplash, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Award. She received a SAFTA nomination for her screenplay of Whiplash, which became the film Tess, and went on to win several awards. Her Snake screenplay has been produced as a movie, released in 2024. Her third novel, The Book of Malachi, received rave international reviews. She lives near Cape Point, South Africa with her human and animal family.