I picked this book up because the premise reminded me of Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington, one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. I assumed it would be a fictional retelling of that story, and in a way it was I guess. Both books reference snake handling as a part of religious ritual, but that's where the similarities end. I wanted to like Snakewoman of Little Egypt, but truth be told, it was kind of a mess. The biggest problem for me was that I had a hard time getting attached to either Sunny or Jackson. They were both self-serving and generally unlikable, and after finishing the first few chapters, I no longer cared what happened to either of them. I also thought the setting was unnecessarily busy, and as a result, the story was all over the place and difficult to follow. Just because you can write a story involving snake handling, Paris, academia, prison life, and African pygmies doesn't mean you should. I liked Hellenga's writing style, but this book just didn't do it for me. Your mileage may vary.