June 11, 2025

Daryl Sneath, "In the Country in the Dark" (Signature Editions, 2023)

30 minutes

NBN host Hollay Ghadery interviews fellow rural Ontario author Daryl Sneath about his 2024 novel, In the Country in the Dark (Signature Editions).

When Landon and Joy meet they feel an instant connection and quickly become inseparable. One day shortly after they've met, they take a trip to view The Hart Farm, an idyllic property located in a remote area. It's perfect, with room for Landon to set up his carpentry shop and Joy to have an art studio. The real estate agent feels complete disclosure of the property's tragic and potentially violent past is necessary but Landon and Joy decide ignorance is bliss and ask to not be told the details. They're in love and smitten with the farm and decide on the spot to buy it.
As they spend their days creating art, reading, cooking for each other, listening to music, and making love, they can barely believe their good fortune. However, when the heat of summer--as well as their initial infatuation--begins to wane, Landon and Joy realize how little they know about each other or the house they now call home. They begin to feel a mounting sense of danger and uncertainty about what they used to delight in--the mysterious and tragic history of The Hart Farm, the wolves that prowl in the dark of night, and the near stranger they share a bed with.
In the Country in the Dark is a thrilling psychological exploration of the secrets we keep and why, the obsessions we live with, the love we all need, the family we sometimes find--and the lengths we might go to keep it.
About Daryl Sneath:

Daryl Sneath is an author and high school English and Philosophy teacher from rural Ontario. He is the author of three novels, In the Country in the Dark, As the Current Pulls the Fallen Under, and All My Sins. Daryl holds an MA in Literature & Creative Writing from The University of Windsor. His poetry and fiction have been published in journals including The Antigonish Review, Prism international, Wascana Review, Nashwaak Review, paperplates, Zouch Magazine, Quilliad, FreeFall, Filling Station, The Dalhousie Review, and The Literary Review of Canada. One of his short stories was longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize.