Snake In The Grass

by Georgia Blain

The story is told through the eyes of Ursula, an out of work actress, who is drifting through life. She is haunted by her past and, in particular, the fateful summer spent with her eccentric family as a teenager at a wild and remote farmhouse, Candelo, on the south coast of Australia where she first falls in love. The holiday ends in disaster: a terrible accident takes place that changes all their lives. Ursula must confront the past and come to terms with truths about herself, and her family, before she can move on and truly exist in the the present.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Georgia Blain has published novels for adults and young adults, essays, short stories, and a memoir. Her first novel was the bestselling Closed for Winter, which was made into a feature film. She was shortlisted for numerous awards including the NSW and SA Premiers' Literary Awards, and the Nita B. Kibble Award for her memoir Births Deaths Marriages. Georgia's works include The Secret Lives of Men, Too Close to Home, and the YA novel Darkwater. In 2016, in addition to Between a Wolf and a Dog, Georgia also published the YA novel Special. She lived in Sydney, where she worked full-time as a writer.

Reviews

[Jayne Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slowed my reading down - the early stages were so secretive about the events at the book's epicentre that it was tough to read. I could dip into it for a few pages and find that I was still none the wiser about the protagonist. Like a delinquent child, it was only when I had some proper quality time to spend with it that we began to make connections. I also felt a lot better once I had twigged that in Australia, thongs are NOT underwear.

The author draws some compelling characters - the right-on mother, the closed off, insular brother. It has plenty of acutely peceptive moments. I never felt as though I got to know the narrator, Ursula, though. I was reminded throughout of 'The God of Small Things' - both novels feature a traumatised brother and sister and leave the reason for the trauma until the end. Both novels could be read a second time with hindsight giving them new meaning. But in the case of this one, I got to the end and thought: yes, pretty traumatic all round but a second reading really would be too much.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is slow to start, plodding when it gets going and ultimately unrewarding. The twist at the end can be seen form the first pages and the characters are suficiently unlikeable that we really don't care what happens to the. We really wish that some-one about 20 pages in would discover a note saying "look this what happened on the holiday" so we can fold it shut.


There is also an irritating tendency to use italics excessively.