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Snake Road
Snake Road
Nov 15, 2025 4:53 AM

Author:Sue Peebles

Snake Road

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ENCORE AWARD

Peggy Kirkpatrick has been talking about a baby called Eleanor.

But no one has heard of Eleanor, and Peggy has dementia. She gets confused and most of the time she doesn’t make any sense, except to her granddaughter, Aggie.

Determined to unravel the mystery of Peggy’s past, Aggie begins to search. But as curiosity turns to obsession, the drive for truth starts to threaten her marriage, her family, and her already fragile mind…

Reviews

I ADORED Snake Road. Couldn't put it aside...so gentle and wise and uniquely observed. There can't be another Scottish novel, or indeed contemporary one, I will like more this year... a brilliant and beautifully written novel

—— Alan Warner

A deeply humane tale of memory, loss and the struggle to understand a family’s past

—— Metro

The “sacred geometry” of ageing and the timeless measuring out of love are what sustain this subtle, beautiful book

—— Guardian

A brilliantly perceptive novel of loss and love

—— Scotsman

Writing of this extraordinary quality and depth is only ever to be welcomed, embraced and, hopefully, suitably rewarded

—— Scotland on Sunday

Wise, memorable and written with a lightsome delicacy... It is wonderfully wry and occasionally laced with despair and menace

—— Alan Warner , Herald

Beautiful prose and anguish conveyed throughout the text in a tender, yet irrevocably witty and sometimes self-depreciating manner…Peebles writes with an effortless empathy towards common everyday emotional and family struggles. This intergenerational journey is quite beautifully written, yet in an easy to follow and light style

—— Nudge

Perceptive and humane, this is a memorable novel

—— Good Book Guide

I ADORED Snake Road. Couldn't put it aside...so gentle and wise and uniquely observed. There can’t be another Scottish novel, or indeed contemporary one, I will like more this year... a brilliant and beautifully written novel.

—— Alan Warner

Brilliantly perceptive novel of loss and love

—— David Robinson , The Scotsman

The recent death of Iain Banks left a gaping hole in contemporary literature, but nowhere was the loss felt more than in his native Scotland. Banks took ordinary situations and rendered them extraordinary; a talent that fellow Scot Sue Peebles, whose first novel won both the Scottish and Saltire book awards, shares in spades… The "sacred geometry" of ageing and the timeless measuring out of love are what sustain this subtle, beautiful book.

—— Catherine Taylor , Guardian

Deeply humane tale of memory, loss and the struggle to understand a family’s past… It’s a novel of generous warmth

—— Ben Felsenburg , Metro Herald

A beautiful, brilliant novel destined to cement Sue's place as one of the leading lights of the Scottish literary scene

—— Waterstones

Peebles' keen eye for social observation adds a comic touch to the narrative, expertly showing how black humour is used in bleak times.

—— Rowena McIntosh , The Skinny

Peebles writes poetic prose, capturing Aggie's imaginative character and her need to find meaning in the puzzle of circumstances she finds herself in. The insight into dementia and its impact upon a family is poignant, with Aggie desperate to recapture the history of a beloved Gran who is disappearing in front of her eyes. The novel strongly evokes the Scottish countryside, its link to the past and the secrets it keeps. The story may be a slow burner, but keep going because its gentle pace builds up to a satisfying conclusion

—— Penny Batchelor , We Love This Book

Aridjis tells an improbable tale with enough details to give it authenticity, and to make her genuinely creepy story something thoughtful and original

—— Lesley McDowell, 4 stars , Independent on Sunday

This is an incredibly atmospheric novel, seen through the eyes of Marie, a consummate outsider

—— Bath Chronicle

Aridjis is a fantastic new voice in fiction with a real gift for character and location

—— Bath Magazine

Set against London’s rain-soaked streets, it is an astute portrait of the alienation of urban life

—— Anna Savva, 4 stars , Lady

A beautiful tale examining the processes of life

—— Good Book Guide

Eschewing a conventional narrative, this absorbing novel deceptively contains a crackling energy within its understated, artful prose

—— Francesca Angelini , Sunday Times
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