Venom
Regular price
€16.99
The village of Praeknamdang, nestled in the Thai jungle, has fallen under the spell of Song Waad, the self-proclaimed medium of The Sacred Mother. Living in fear of his connection to the Patron goddess, the villagers offer up land and wealth to the religious leader, who grows more corrupt by the day. Only one family dares to resist his growing power: a couple and their talented ten-year-old son.
But one day, while out with his friends, the boy is attacked by a cobra. He becomes locked in a life-and-death struggle in which the border between the human and the animal disintegrates. Did the boy simply stray too near to a burrow, or is The Sacred Mother punishing him? A gripping existential parable, Venom introduces the UK reader to the world of Saneh Sangsuk; lush, raw, lyrical and vivid, this is storytelling at its finest.
Saneh Sangsuk (b. 1957) is an award-winning Thai author. His collection Venom and Other Stories won him the 2014 S.E.A. Write Award. His novel, White Shadow, was named one of the best 20 novels in Thailand. Some of his works have been translated into various languages (incl. German, French and Spanish) and in 2008, he received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) Medal from the French Ministry of Culture for his remarkable contributions to literature. In 2023, Peirene Press will publish two books by Sangsuk: the single-volume story Venom (May 2023) and the novel The Understory (September 2023). Currently, Saneh lives in Phetchaburi, Thailand, and uses the pen name Dan-arun Saengthong in his published work.