Where the Serpent Lives

Ruth Padel

If you fancy a tragic love-story loosely themed on Othello, with a healthy sprinkling of snakes then you will love this book! Herpetologists (I didn't know what they were either!) run around England and India in mad love triangles desperately seeking fulfillment. Throw in some adultery, the 7/7 bombings and an uncommunicative teenager and what do you have? A contemporary update on any Maeve Binchy classic.

Extract

'One little sizzler? One gorgeous gorgeous Porkinson's Banger?'
He rolls a sausage on its side. He loves his cooking skills.
'There's a message for you on the answer phone.' He has his back to her but she feels him freeze like a jackal that knows it has been seen. Despite the woozimess, something in her is cocking its head, wondering. How will Tyler get out of this? 'A woman. You'd stood her up. She said you'd been with her for years.'

Parallels