Liv has a lot of secrets. Late one night, in the aftermath of a party in the apartment she shares with two friends in Ålesund, she sees a python on a TV nature show and becomes obsessed with the idea of buying a snake as a pet. Soon Nero, a baby Burmese python, becomes the apartment’s fourth roommate. As Liv bonds with Nero, she is struck by a desire that surprises her with its intensity. Finally she is safe.
Thirteen years later, in the nearby town of Kristiansund, Mariam Lind goes on a shopping trip with her eleven-year-old daughter, Iben. Following an argument Mariam storms off, expecting her young daughter to make her own way home… but she never does. Detective Roe Olsvik, new to the Kristiansund police department, is assigned to the case of Iben’s disappearance. As he interrogates Mariam, he instantly suspects her – but there is much more to this case and these characters than their outer appearances would suggest.
A biting and constantly shifting tale of family secrets, rebirth, and the legacy of trauma, Reptile Memoirs is a brilliant exploration of the cold-bloodedness of humanity.
Reptile Memoirs is an unusual take on the thriller. It follows two timelines, one starting in 2003, while the second takes place in 2017. In the first timeline, Liv and her two housemates are living a fairly typical student life style. After seeing a nature documentary, they decide to get a baby python, Nero, that Liv quickly becomes besotted with and considers her own despite officially belonging to all three of them.
Liv is a character that I immediately felt a huge amount of sympathy for, although I can’t say that I liked her. She has clearly had a traumatic past and is barely on speaking terms with her family for reasons that are gradually revealed. We also find out that Liv isn’t her real name, replacing her birthname of Sara in an attempt to disassociate herself from her past. From this, I felt that she was running from her past, rather than dealing with it, although I could understand the appeal of trying to do so. As Nero enters her life, she quickly develops an obsession with him, and I think that she feels some kinship with him as he sheds his skin, much as she has tried to shed her own past and reinvent herself. She even believes that she can make out simple words and demands in his hissing. It’s almost amusing at first but quickly takes on a darker tone, and what starts out innocently enough proves to have unfortunate consequences.
The second, more recent, timeline focusses on Miriam. At a shopping centre with her eleven-year-old daughter, Iben, they argue over a comic that Iben wants but that Miriam doesn’t approve of, seeing no educational value or merit in it. It’s a scene that beautifully demonstrates the strained relationship that Miriam has with her child, the argument and Miriam’s judgement harsh by anyone’s standards. Iben storms off, and Miriam drives home, assuming that her daughter will make her own way back. Of course, she never arrives. The reason for this difficult relationship is quickly explained, and I did find myself feeling more sympathetic towards Miriam as a result, although her treatment of Iben still seemed unfair and unnecessarily harsh to me. I also couldn’t justify Miriam leaving her daughter after no more than a cursory search at the shopping centre, particularly given Iben’s age. It raised questions about Miriam’s judgement and responsibility for me.
Iben’s disappearance introduces the third main character to the novel, as Detective Roe Olsvik is assigned to the investigation. It’s clear from the beginning that Roe has baggage, and one wonders at his suitability for this investigation given that his own daughter died in suspicious circumstances some years earlier. He does immediately take the case to heart, all but accusing Miriam of harming her own daughter, despite her version events, in their first interview. He’s not one to keep his cards close to his chest, and I wasn’t sure if there was something personal in his views, or whether he was acting upon gut instinct. It adds an extra layer to the novel, as I wasn’t sure if any of the narrators were reliable, particularly given Roe’s treatment of Miriam.
As you’d expect, the two timelines and their respective characters come to overlap as the novel progresses, and I loved seeing this complex thriller play out. I guessed at parts of the plot, but there were still elements that took me by surprise. It’s a brilliantly clever novel, and I loved seeing how each piece of this particular jigsaw came together. It’s quite dark in tone and borders on graphic at times, but it’s not quite like anything else I’ve read. This won’t appeal to everyone, but it does include a rather unusual perspective – that of Nero. The titular reptile memoirs are few and far between, but add an interesting layer of insight, in so much as a snake can follow and understand human behaviour. While it sounds odd, it does work in the context of the novel. It also serves to highlight how poorly suited such creatures are as pets.
Reptile Memoirs is an engaging and unusual thriller, and I’ll be looking out for more from this author. I recommend it for those who like their thrillers dark and who don’t mind an unusual POV thrown into the mix.
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