‘The Serpent Bearer’ by Jane Rosenthal

What do a Jewish veteran of the Spanish Civil War, a glamorous British aristocrat, and a beautiful Hollywood screenwriter, have in common – and how do they all end up in Mexico in 1941, at the height of World War II?

That’s the riddle at the heart of this intruiging novel by US writer Jane Rosenthal, who deftly weaves her Jewish and southern heritage, along with research trips , into the book’s settings (South Carolina and the Yucatan region) to bring to life the humidity, mosquitos and lushness of the region, with the menace of the time and place.

Solly is a reluctant recruit to a newly formed US spy agency; he is tasked with infiltrating a group of Nazi collaborators and spies operating in the Yucatan. He discovers that there are plans afoot for a German invasion of the US, so the stakes are high.

He also discovers a motley group of refugees from Nazi atrocities in Europe who look to him for salvation. And, raising the stakes further, he learns that somewhere nearby in the Yucatan is Estelle, the British women whom he loved, then lost in Spain – and vowed to find again at whatever the cost.

But before he can get out of Mexico, there are many more discoveries awaiting Solly, both personal and political – all of them dangerous. How he steers his way through them makes for a page-turning, and at times quite moving, novel.

While Solly is the main protagonist, there are a cast of characters who ably support and enrich the narrative: particularly Estelle, Grace (the Hollywood writer who has, like Solly, been sent on a spy mission to Mexico) and Sister Immaculata, a nun who plays a vital role in the novel’s climactic scenes. These are women of agency and drive, with their own particular agendas, and important to the emotional and narrative arc of the story.

The descriptive passages are brilliant: I almost felt immobilised by the humidity myself even though I was reading in a much more comfortable environment!

The title refers to the ancient Greek myth of Ophichus, and the constellation of that name, depicting a man holding a snake, long associated with healing, transformation, and a bridge between death and life:

“It’s up there somewhere.” Grace had interrupted his thoughts. “The constellation of the Serpent Bearer, the god that brings the dead back to life. I wish we could do that, don’t you?’…
“All we can do is what we’ve done, Grace,” he whispered. “Bring souls back from the brink like those refugees …”
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The Serpent Bearer is published by She Writes Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster in April 2025
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an advanced reading copy to review.