Snake is Kate Jennings’s firstnovel, first published in 1996and now reissued – because,quite frankly, it is a brilliantnovel written, with sparseeffective language. Jennings,firstly, is a poet and her moveto writing a novel easilydemonstrates her power of lucid imagination.It is the story of a 1950s marriage in outbackAustralia. Irene realises almost immediatelythat her marriage to Rex is not what shewants. Together, they attempt to create a lifefor themselves and their children, bleaklyknown in the novel only as Girlie and Boy. Asthe years pass, Irene’s contempt for Rex andhis quiet ways grows into pure hatred. Thetitle, ‘Snake’, conjures up this insidiousmarriage ending with a strike of venom …

The novel is divided into four parts, allowingthe two main protagonists their own voice,although it is the judicious separation of thechapters that creates a rising tension. Eachchapter has its own title and with theseheadings, Jennings’s power as a poet can alsobe realised. (Each title contributes a separatelayer to the story.) With the same approach,the landscape described reflects the growingdesolation of the relationship. It is Irene’srage at the dryness of the land and the mutedemotions of her terribly loyal but ineffectivehusband that in the end drive this story toits final tragedy. Reminiscent of Lawson’s TheDrover’s Wife, yet also a depiction, perhaps,of why Jennings herself left Australia (shenow lives in New York). Like Irene, I’m sureshe thought there were adventures to be hadaway from this ‘sunburnt country.’ Snake isnot a sweet tale, but one of aching loss for allthose involved. This short novel is, withoutdoubt, one of the most carefully crafted andevocative tales to emerge in the last 20 yearsof Australian fiction.

Chris Gordon is events coordinator of ReadingsCarlton.