What a brilliant notion. If I had been Eve, and depending on my mood and level of boredom at another day in Paradise, I'd have been all over that serpent like a rash.

Maybe it represented opportunity, excitement, curiosity, tested her courage versus her resolve to remain obedient. Adam had been chasing her round Eden for too long and frankly, maybe she just fancied an apple and found the idea of wearing an enigmatically quim-shaped fig leaf appealing.

Now to the point. What is the purpose of being put on the planet if not to discover it for yourself? The nature of things, how it is, how to love, how to fuck it up then put it right, how to forgive. To learn self-reliance but also to rock and roll in time with everybody else. To give. To be in tune, yet then be inspired to go sing your own.

Every girl needs a serpent, as a joyful reminder that she may choose a life for herself.