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Snake Wife
Perfect for readers of Leigh Bardugo, Naomi Novik, and Madeline Miller who crave folkloric worlds, dangerous magic, and heroines who will burn the world before they let it break their children.
Liama is a thing of myth. She can stop a man's heart with the flick of her wrist, but she cannot save her daughter from a powerless man.
Robbed of her memories and her freedom, Liama wakes each dawn as the wife of a man who wields her violent abilities to hold his usurped throne, and carves his name into her daughter's chest when Liama rebels.
When a single forbidden touch fractures the spell binding her mind, fragments of Liama’s past begin to surface: her capture from the Sacred Wood, the love of the man who took her, and a forgotten alliance that could topple the usurper on her throne. To claim it all back she must be something more than the leashed woman she has become.
In a land where women bear the weight of both salvation and destruction, Liama will rupture ancient bonds and tear the veil between worlds to protect her daughter. But to save the girl from inheriting her fate, Liama will have to shatter the bones of everything the Wasters have built, remaking their legacy from spilled blood.
Snake Wife is a dark, mythic feminist fantasy of mothers and daughters, ancient goddesses, and the terrible cost of terrible power.
Enter House Est and discover why readers call Snake Wife an "impossible to put down" tale of "one bad ass mama."
Liama is a thing of myth. She can stop a man's heart with the flick of her wrist, but she cannot save her daughter from a powerless man.
Robbed of her memories and her freedom, Liama wakes each dawn as the wife of a man who wields her violent abilities to hold his usurped throne, and carves his name into her daughter's chest when Liama rebels.
When a single forbidden touch fractures the spell binding her mind, fragments of Liama’s past begin to surface: her capture from the Sacred Wood, the love of the man who took her, and a forgotten alliance that could topple the usurper on her throne. To claim it all back she must be something more than the leashed woman she has become.
In a land where women bear the weight of both salvation and destruction, Liama will rupture ancient bonds and tear the veil between worlds to protect her daughter. But to save the girl from inheriting her fate, Liama will have to shatter the bones of everything the Wasters have built, remaking their legacy from spilled blood.
Snake Wife is a dark, mythic feminist fantasy of mothers and daughters, ancient goddesses, and the terrible cost of terrible power.
Enter House Est and discover why readers call Snake Wife an "impossible to put down" tale of "one bad ass mama."
415 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 6, 2025
About the author
Samantha Burgess-Smith
2 books10 followersSamantha Burgess-Smith has been writing stories since the 4th grade. Her first short story was a Sleeping Beauty retelling in which the princess and the dragon live happily ever after.
Award-winning in her field, Burgess-Smith has been on the founding teams of 3 start-up businesses, including an international non-profit. Following the death of her father and the birth of her two daughters, she evolved her entrepreneurship career into a return to her first love, writing.
Graduating with a degree in Literature with a specialization in Feminist Film Theory, Burgess-Smith has a deep fascination with elements of literary theory such as structure/form as content, the narrative gaze, and the reimagination of common tropes through the feminine lens. Experimentation with these elements comprises much of her work, as well as her meticulously high self-imposed standards for damn good dialogue.
Snake Wife, with its intense and intimate exploration of the maternal in fantasy fiction, is her debut novel.
Award-winning in her field, Burgess-Smith has been on the founding teams of 3 start-up businesses, including an international non-profit. Following the death of her father and the birth of her two daughters, she evolved her entrepreneurship career into a return to her first love, writing.
Graduating with a degree in Literature with a specialization in Feminist Film Theory, Burgess-Smith has a deep fascination with elements of literary theory such as structure/form as content, the narrative gaze, and the reimagination of common tropes through the feminine lens. Experimentation with these elements comprises much of her work, as well as her meticulously high self-imposed standards for damn good dialogue.
Snake Wife, with its intense and intimate exploration of the maternal in fantasy fiction, is her debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2026
I absolutely loved this book. Seeing a female protagonist who is a mother (rather than yet another teenage girl) was more than refreshing; it was deeply relatable. Liama’s struggles, desires, and inner conflicts felt genuine and deeply relatable, which made it easy to become invested in her story.
Before I knew it, I was fully hooked and racing through the pages, eager to see what would happen next. I sure hope there’s another book on the horizon, because I’m eager to follow these characters and this world and see where the story goes next!
Before I knew it, I was fully hooked and racing through the pages, eager to see what would happen next. I sure hope there’s another book on the horizon, because I’m eager to follow these characters and this world and see where the story goes next!
March 24, 2026
Liama inherits the power of Wasting, the same power that her mother, and all the mothers of their line, have stewarded from the Sacred Wood since ancient days. In media res, Liama is now a Chieftainess of a local kingdom and wife to its treacherous ruler with little knowledge as to how she, and her young daughter, got there. One interaction leads to a discovery, a small remembering, which sets her on a journey into the past. Will she find herself to have been a force of good that has been oppressed? Or, will she find herself the oppressor?
“I am yanked, tugged, displaced unceasingly in the thin space between raising my child in the fullness of her heritage, and making of her another weapon to be wielded by powerless men.”
My thoughts–
This novel has been one of the most refreshing pieces of literary fiction I have read in a long time. Burgess-Smith strings fantasy, mystery, feminism, and romance together in its own unprecedented tapestry. We live in a time where we want answers immediately–everything now, now, now. And yet, this book helps me remember the forgotten art of curiosity.
What does it actually mean to be someone’s daughter? How does my relationship with my own mother shape who I am? Has the wisdom of the women before me been ignored or heeded?
How do I raise a child, flawed as I am, to be proud of her heritage? And if her protection meant I must lose my humanity, would she see me as the oppressor or the oppressed?
My advice to readers–learn to be content with the mystery of this novel until it unfolds in its crescendo. Get comfy in the unknown. It is not so much that you don’t know what’s going on; Rather, you know just enough to make you want to keep reading, keep discovering, keep remembering–just as Liama must do, herself.
Quotes
“And I know, without knowing how I know, that we have done this before.”
“‘So I am not the only good Waster?’ she asks, in such a way that I do not know how best to answer. And so I do as these women we discuss have taught me. I do so with honesty.”
“I am yanked, tugged, displaced unceasingly in the thin space between raising my child in the fullness of her heritage, and making of her another weapon to be wielded by powerless men.”
My thoughts–
This novel has been one of the most refreshing pieces of literary fiction I have read in a long time. Burgess-Smith strings fantasy, mystery, feminism, and romance together in its own unprecedented tapestry. We live in a time where we want answers immediately–everything now, now, now. And yet, this book helps me remember the forgotten art of curiosity.
What does it actually mean to be someone’s daughter? How does my relationship with my own mother shape who I am? Has the wisdom of the women before me been ignored or heeded?
How do I raise a child, flawed as I am, to be proud of her heritage? And if her protection meant I must lose my humanity, would she see me as the oppressor or the oppressed?
My advice to readers–learn to be content with the mystery of this novel until it unfolds in its crescendo. Get comfy in the unknown. It is not so much that you don’t know what’s going on; Rather, you know just enough to make you want to keep reading, keep discovering, keep remembering–just as Liama must do, herself.
Quotes
“And I know, without knowing how I know, that we have done this before.”
“‘So I am not the only good Waster?’ she asks, in such a way that I do not know how best to answer. And so I do as these women we discuss have taught me. I do so with honesty.”
February 21, 2026
Snake Wife is a gripping tale of good and evil (and all the gray in between) told on an epic fantasy scale. It is not only a story of motherhood, with its daily battles and sacrifices, and the constant tension between personal desire, the greater good, and the good of one’s child; it is also a timeless hero’s journey set in a dark, magical, and deeply intriguing world. Burgess-Smith’s storytelling is skillful and immersive—I found myself lost in the world and lives she so vividly conjured. Even if fantasy isn’t your usual genre, you’ll fall in love with this emotional and thrilling legend.
April 10, 2026
I loved this story so much!! I don’t typically read fantasy, but I was hooked from page 1. Burgess-Smith effortlessly slips you into a world that is vibrant and mystical without it feeling contrived or cumbersome. It’s like I was there all along. Our MC is strong while also being incredibly relatable. The writing is also beautiful. Full of emotion and incredible twists and turns that keep the reader on their toes, while still investing so much in the characters. It’s a beautiful and moving reflection on not just motherhood and memory, but also grief and loss and the prices we pay to avoid the wrath of both.
March 30, 2026
Snake Wife is so thought provoking and such an interesting read. Every character felt unique and from the start I was invested in their trajectory! I think ill make it a yearly read because I feel like I will learn more each time!
April 19, 2026
A tricksey tale.
Richly engaging. Resonance of old tales blended with newly imagined feats. Bloody and tragic and uplifting. epically strong women. Loved it
Richly engaging. Resonance of old tales blended with newly imagined feats. Bloody and tragic and uplifting. epically strong women. Loved it
April 10, 2026
I loved this story so much!! I don’t typically read fantasy, but I was hooked from page 1. Burgess-Smith effortlessly slips you into a world that is vibrant and mystical without it feeling contrived or cumbersome. It’s like I was there all along. Our MC is strong while also being incredibly relatable. The writing is also beautiful. Full of emotion and incredible twists and turns that keep the reader on their toes, while still investing so much in the characters. It’s a beautiful and moving reflection on not just motherhood and memory, but also grief and loss and the prices we pay to avoid the wrath of both.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews