I have just finished reading Ruth Padel`s `Where the Serpent Lives' - what a wonderful book! I am amazed that such an accomplished novel is her first. It is beautifully written, enthralling, and kept me longing to know what happens next - the most important thing for the novelist to achieve. The characters: Anka, Scott, Tyler, Rosamund and Russel, Irena and Richard, are movingly believable individuals (my test of whether a novel is good is whether I can remember the character`s names afterwards). The narrative is absolutely of the moment, including not only the personal lives and interactions of these protagonists, but an entire world view ranging from the terrorism in London to the global destruction of wildlife. What especially impresses me is the physicality of her writing. Ruth Padel`s travels in India and Southeast Asia (recorded in her book `Tigers in Red Weather') have served her well - the descriptions of the forest and jungle, the insects and heat, are equally vivid - and the final `lord of life' scene is breathtaking. This certainly will be one of the outstanding novels published this year.
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