Name: The Essex Serpent
ISBN: 9781782832041

Sarah Perry

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Overall Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2017 (Nibbies) Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016 Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both. The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.

The number one bestseller and British Book Awards Book of the Year

The Essex Serpent

Emiley Jones

"Not yet," she said. "Not yet: but change is slow. Even the world turns by inches."

Lauri

The pendulum swings from one year to the next, and there's  darkness on the face of the deep.

Luke diagnosed himself to be in love, and sought no cure for the disease.

There was grief, too, that was certain, and she was grateful for it, since however loathed he'd been by the end, he'd formed her, at least in part - and what good ever came of self-loathing?

Perhaps he dealt elsewhere with kindness - yes: perhaps that was it - perhaps she'd been a kind of clearing-house for cruelties deserved elsewhere.

...but perhaps that's the point; perhaps we are always alone, no matter the company we keep.

He eyed his visitor, and evidently concluded that no woman in such a coat could be frightened by mere monsters.

Reverend Ransome, she thought, scornfully: as if some slow-witted parson and his fatcheeked children could interest her Cora!

Martha says I never looked odder or uglier, but you know I've always thought beauty a curse and am more than happy to dispense with it completely. Sometimes I forget that I'm a woman - at least - I forget to think of myself as a woman. All the obligations and comforts of womanhood seem to have nothing to do with me now. I'm not sure how I am supposed to behave and I'm not sure I would, if I knew.

Oh, she had loved him - no-one could ever have loved more: she'd been too young to withstand it, a child intoxicated by an inch of drink. He had been imprinted on her vision, as if she'd glanced at the sun and closing her eyes found a pinprick of light persisting in the darkness. He had been so sombre that when attempts at levity made him laugh she'd felt an empress in command of an army; he was so stern, and so remote, that the first moment he embraced her had been a battle won. She'd not known then that these were the common tricks of a common trickster, to cede a skirmish and later lay her waste.

Nothing infuriated Cora more than being ignored: she gave an exasperated cry and ran the few remaining yards.

Martha, don't bow your head to the way things are and always were - whole empires are brought down by nothing but ivy and time.

We both speak of illuminating the world, but we have different resources of light, you and I.

Was it punishment she sought - had Michael so mistreated her she hoped for others to do the same - was she malformed now, misshapen, having been pressed and moulded so long?

William Ransome and Cora Seaborne, stripped of code and convention, even of speech, stood with her strong hand in his: children of the earth and lost in wonder.

I'm going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with once upon a time.

We cannot help it if we are to live... Causing harm, I mean; how could it be avoided unless we shut ourselves away - never speak, never act?

I've always said there are no mysteries, only things we don't yet know; but lately I've thought not even knowledge takes all strangeness from the world.

Must we make battlegrounds out of our children?

And why should my mind cede to yours - why should yours to mine?

Still I bear it well enough for it was promised that though I walk through the rivers they will not overflow me!

Though I walk through the fire, I shall not be burned!

Costa Book Award Finalist and the Waterstones (UK) Book of the Year 2016 "I loved this book. At once numinous, intimate and wise, The Essex Serpent is a marvelous novel about the workings of life, love and belief, about science and religion, secrets, mysteries, and the complicated and unexpected shifts of the human heart—and it contains some of the most beautiful evocations of place and landscape I’ve ever read. It is so good its pages seem lit from within. As soon as I’d finished it I started reading it again."—Helen MacDonald, author of H is for Hawk An exquisitely talented young British author makes her American debut with this rapturously acclaimed historical novel, set in late nineteenth-century England, about an intellectually minded young widow, a pious vicar, and a rumored mythical serpent that explores questions about science and religion, skepticism, and faith, independence and love. When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at nineteen, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year old son, Francis, and the boy’s nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend. While admiring the sites, Cora learns of an intriguing rumor that has arisen further up the estuary, of a fearsome creature said to roam the marshes claiming human lives. After nearly 300 years, the mythical Essex Serpent is said to have returned, taking the life of a young man on New Year’s Eve. A keen amateur naturalist with no patience for religion or superstition, Cora is immediately enthralled, and certain that what the local people think is a magical sea beast may be a previously undiscovered species. Eager to investigate, she is introduced to local vicar William Ransome. Will, too, is suspicious of the rumors. But unlike Cora, this man of faith is convinced the rumors are caused by moral panic, a flight from true belief. These seeming opposites who agree on nothing soon find themselves inexorably drawn together and torn apart—an intense relationship that will change both of their lives in ways entirely unexpected. Hailed by Sarah Waters as "a work of great intelligence and charm, by a hugely talented author," The Essex Serpent is "irresistible . . . you can feel the influences of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Hilary Mantel channeled by Perry in some sort of Victorian séance. This is the best new novel I’ve read in years" (Daily Telegraph, London).

A Novel

It took me a little while to get into and by the time I fully had it was sadly over but! A joy, I loved the fullness and playfulness of each character set in this time and learning that what we feel and desire has not really changed. Mystical, slow, subtle and beautiful. 

Laura Gill

Oh gosh I loved it. A spooky, sensual, eccentric mystery. Late 19th century (?) London / a foggy estuary village, a widow who loves fossils, a sheep rescuing vicar, up the worker’s rights, consumption, lovers, tragedies, weird children, goats. A perfect winter holiday read. 🐉

Sarah Christine Gill

Monicap

I get it. I understand why everyone and their mothers love this book. The writing is gorgeous, the characters are lifelike, the discussions of science and religion are rich and complex... But the sum of it's parts just didn't speak to me.

This is a good book, maybe even a great one, and no one who hyped it was wrong to do so. It's just not my book.

A Kirkus Review Best Book of 2017 and a Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction. Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year, selected as the Waterstones Book of the Year, and a Costa Book Award Finalist "A novel of almost insolent ambition--lush and fantastical, a wild Eden behind a garden gate...it's part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable. I found it so transporting that 48 hours after completing it, I was still resentful to be back home." -New York Times “An irresistible new novel…the most delightful heroine since Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice…By the end, The Essex Serpent identifies a mystery far greater than some creature ‘from the illuminated margins of a manuscript’: friendship.” -Washington Post "Richly enjoyable... Ms. Perry writes beautifully and sometimes agreeably sharply... The Essex Serpent is a wonderfully satisfying novel. Ford Madox Ford thought the glory of the novel was its ability to make the reader think and feel at the same time. This one does just that." -Wall Street Journal An exquisitely talented young British author makes her American debut with this rapturously acclaimed historical novel, set in late nineteenth-century England, about an intellectually minded young widow, a pious vicar, and a rumored mythical serpent that explores questions about science and religion, skepticism, and faith, independence and love. When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at nineteen, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year old son, Francis, and the boy’s nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend. While admiring the sites, Cora learns of an intriguing rumor that has arisen further up the estuary, of a fearsome creature said to roam the marshes claiming human lives. After nearly 300 years, the mythical Essex Serpent is said to have returned, taking the life of a young man on New Year’s Eve. A keen amateur naturalist with no patience for religion or superstition, Cora is immediately enthralled, and certain that what the local people think is a magical sea beast may be a previously undiscovered species. Eager to investigate, she is introduced to local vicar William Ransome. Will, too, is suspicious of the rumors. But unlike Cora, this man of faith is convinced the rumors are caused by moral panic, a flight from true belief. These seeming opposites who agree on nothing soon find themselves inexorably drawn together and torn apart—an intense relationship that will change both of their lives in ways entirely unexpected. Hailed by Sarah Waters as "a work of great intelligence and charm, by a hugely talented author," The Essex Serpent is "irresistible . . . you can feel the influences of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Hilary Mantel channeled by Perry in some sort of Victorian séance. This is the best new novel I’ve read in years" (Daily Telegraph).

a long-winded and sometimes aimless novel that meandered around, between, and sometimes through its characters. i expected more supernatural mystery and romance, but found myself nudged into living with a strange cast of characters and falling a little bit in love with this version of essex. not what i thought it would be, but i'm not mad about that at all.

rin 🐇

I liked the idea and parts of this were truly excellent but it had so much trouble holding my attention, especially during the first 30% or so that I cannot help but feel ambivalent towards it. I am sorry to the British public (who are wrong about almost everything almost always anyways, according to studies).

And while I am trying to judge this on its own merit, it did very much have the misfortune of being my audiobook on the same day that I was finishing Micah Nemerever's "These Violent Delights" which was absolutely riveting to me. The difference in my reaction as a reader to the two books is from here to Mars.

I liked the idea and parts of this were truly excellent but it had so much trouble holding my attention, especially during the first 30% or so that I cannot help but feel ambivalent towards it. I am sorry to the British public (who are wrong about almost everything almost always anyways, according to studies).

And while I am trying to judge this on its own merit, it did very much have the misfortune of being my audiobook on the same day that I was finishing Micah Nemerever's "These Violent Delights" which was absolutely riveting to me. The difference in my reaction as a reader to the two books is from here to Mars.

This book was wonderfully written and definitely takes a bit of brain power to be able to find the storylines and make all the connections since theres multiple POVs. 

Macy M

Sophistically written; telling a story of forbidden love which leaves one feeling helpless accompanied by a crippling emptiness in heart for the soulmates who met at a wrong time and everyone else involved in this entanglement.

What is more, the descriptions are written in such a remarkable way that they could be re-read numerous times without getting old.

Sophistically written; telling a story of forbidden love which leaves one feeling helpless accompanied by a crippling emptiness in heart for the soulmates who met at a wrong time and everyone else involved in this entanglement.

What is more, the descriptions are written in such a remarkable way that they could be re-read numerous times without getting old.

Haylie

If you're someone who adores excessive use of parenthesis and long descriptions of landscapes, then you'll like this book. If not, please pass.

I had no opinion of The Essex Serpent prior to the halfway mark. I really didn't. Maybe that should've been my first red flag. I wanted to give it a chance to set everything up in hopes that once I crossed halfway, things would unfold and we could keep it moving. However, once I hit that mark a terrible realization occurred: there's too many underdeveloped characters snatching at the spotlight.

As I continued, I had some hope that maybe certain shifts in plot might clean up the roster (i.e., death, marriage, bowing out because they've realized they've overstayed their welcome...) but that was not the case. There's a good chunk of this book that pivots away from the two "central" characters, Cora and Will, and it's like slogging through deep mud.

Maybe Perry realized this issue but if so, she realized way too late. It's apparent in the last chapter as each character has a quick paragraph dedicated to offering up a nice, tied up ending that provides feels hollow and empty. The last 100 pages of this book were torture to go through because of the constant revisits to characters who should've bowed out for good in the first half. Two, even three, of these characters should be dead at this point (one CLEARLY because of medical logic) but somehow, Perry cannot seem to let go.

How on Earth this got green-lit for a six hour show is beyond me. If anything, this absolutely turned me off to watching the upcoming series. For the sake of your entertainment, please look elsewhere. At least the book cover looks nice on the shelf? Oof.

PS - I know it says I've taken ten days to read this, but that's mostly because of work and overall disinterest as I neared the finish line. My reading time is definitely under six hours which is easier to contend with than wasting six watching a show blindly.

Pros: Beautiful writing and inclusive characters (for historical fiction). 

Cons: I was disappointed by the lack of tension and climax.

Pros: Beautiful writing and inclusive characters (for historical fiction). 
Cons: I was disappointed by the lack of tension and climax.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLEROverall Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2017 (Nibbies)Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for FictionThe Waterstones Book of the Year 2016Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel AwardLondon, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both.The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.

Arianna M

Beautiful. For a time I didn't want it to ever stop, and then I read it all in one go. The female characters especially were incredible, they were unusual, and they were alive! I loved this book, its descriptions, its attention to detail, its care for feelings and emotions even when they might not be pleasant or conventional.

Haley Murray

Pavonini

It was atmospheric. There were plenty of interesting details and subtleties, and I liked the short chapter size and various letters allowing for different layers of artifice and meaning. I liked the premise. I liked Cora and understood the way she related to people.

It didn't enchant me the way "The Children's Book" (which I thought similar) did. I kept reading, and I did enjoy it, but I just wanted it to be something that it wasn't - more horrifying, or more historically interesting, or more interesting characters. I don't know exactly, but it fell slightly flat for me. 

It's probably a solid 3 stars because I enjoyed reading it at the time, though wasn't desperate to finish it, and probably won't read it again. I have quite mixed feelings on it. It didn't help that I was quite sick when I read it, so mostly using it to distract from pain.

Elisa Bieg

2 1/2 STARS

Meh. 
This was not awful, but not great, either. 

The writing was pretty good; but the Victorian era as a setting was extremely unconvincing, what with everyone being so chilled and non-judgemental, even in the face of various oddities and an extremely unusual lifestyle (for that time) for the female lead. 

The character development was also a problem: they had such specific traits, but they really didn't come alive for me. Things were happening, but everything just felt kind of dull. 

I did like the writing, or the rating might have been a whole star less.

Sonja H

Wir befinden uns im viktorianischen England. Cora, gerade Witwe geworden, verlässt mit ihrem autistischen Sohn und seiner Gouvernante London und zieht nach Essex, wo sie ihrer Leidenschaft, den Naturwissenschaften, frönen kann. 
Schon bald hört sie nicht nur von der legendären "Essex Serpent", einem Seeungeheuer, das Menschen beeinflusst und tötet, sondern trifft auch auf den Pfarrer William, zu dem sie eine besondere Freundschaft entwickelt.

Dieses Buch ist geprägt von seinen sehr speziellen, stark überzeichneten Charakteren und der sinnbildhaften Verkörperung der Zeit, in der sie leben. Da ist der Kirchenmann, seiner Frau stets treu ergeben, der nicht an ein gottloses Wesen wie die Essexschlange glauben kann. Da ist die junge Dame aus der höheren Gesellschaft, die - befreit von den gesellschaftlichen Pflichten als Ehefrau - auf die Suche nach dem natürlichen Ursprung alles Lebens geht und in der Schlange eine bislang unentdeckte Tierart vermutet. Da sind der Arzt und sein Freund, die Anästhesie und neuartige Operationen erforschen und vorantreiben. Da ist die Kinderfrau, die sich für die Unterschicht einsetzt. Figuren voller Symbolik, in sich schlüssg, dennoch berechenbar. 

Es steckt sehr viel Liebe zu Details in dieser Geschichte, viel Wissen über den historischen Hintergrund, ein wunderbarer Schreibstil - doch leider hat die Autorin so stark mit Bildern und Metaphern gearbeitet, dass ich mich beim Lesen oft in den Deutschunterricht versetzt fühlte und nicht so recht in das Geschehen eintauchen konnte. 

Wer Spannung sucht, liegt mit diesem Roman falsch. 
Wer interessante Persönlichkeiten, eine etwas düstere Atmosphäre und bedeutungsvolle Verwicklungen mag, wird Gefallen an "The Essex Serpent" haben.

Celeste Richardson

This is another of those books that’s been sitting on my shelf for years, but news of an upcoming adaption made me finally pick it up. I didn’t expect to love The Essex Serpent. I bought it at a library sale because the cover is stunning, but it sounded more than a bit slow, and I’m not a huge reader of historical fiction. However, when Tom Hiddleston was cast as one of the leads in the television series, I knew I had to finally dust it off and read it. I’m so incredibly thankful that I did, because this novel was gorgeous. I was incredibly surprised by how much I ended up loving it.
“If love were an archer someone had put out its eyes, and it went stumbling about, blindly letting loose its arrows, never meeting its mark.”
First off, I have to talk about Perry’s writing style. The prose is dense but lovely, Dickensian in both thoughtfulness and verbosity. It might be wordy, but each of those words matters. Her voice is somehow a fascinating dichotomy of powerful and subtle; powerful in that it’s clear and consistent throughout, and subtle in that it quietly takes a backseat to the narrative and never overwhelms it. Perry does a very good job of showing what characters are thinking and feeling through their own actions instead of simply telling us what emotions are currently ruling them, which I very much appreciated. She also has a deft touch with her descriptions. They’re beautiful and evokative without ever bogging down the reader and dragging them from the story. I have to confess that at least a star of my rating is strictly owing to the awe the writing itself inspired within me.
“Not even knowledge takes all the strangeness from the world.”
 Let me set the scene. London, 1893. Cora Seaborne finds herself suddenly free in a way most women of her time and place never experience. She’s a young, wealthy widow with a sharp, scientific mind and the means by which to travel in search of the ancient but undiscovered. When she hears tale of the Essex Serpent, a mysterious and rarely-sighted creature potentially roaming the backwater marshes, she is drawn to the area in hopes of proving the mystical actually prehistoric. Here she meets William Ransome, the parish parson, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. From here, their lives, and the lives of those they love, will change unerringly and irrevocably.
“…you cannot always keep yourself away from things that hurt you. We all wish we could, but we cannot: to live at all is to be bruised.”
The writing is, as I already stated, exquisite, and the proposed tale is an interesting one. But then there are the characters, and this cast is where I believe the true magic of the story lies. Cora is a radically uncommon woman, portrayed as almost masculine in her mannerisms and intellect. She has a strained relationship with her young son, Francis, who would likely be on the autism spectrum today. Martha, Francis’s nanny, is brusk and canny in her own right, and is fiercely loyal and protective of her mistress. Dr. Luke Garrett, the physician who attended Cora’s husband until death, strikes up an easy friendship with Cora and swiftly falls in love with her. Stella Ransome, the parson’s wife, immediately takes to Cora when she comes to their village. Stella is beautiful and kind and fragile, and it’s impossible not to love her. Then there’s William Ransome, the aforementioned parson who finds instant, almost unwanted rapport with Cora despite their profound differences. You see, Cora is sure that there is truly a creature in the marsh, while Will refuses to even acknowledge it, calling the superstition plaguing his parish The Trouble instead. And there are even more characters who, though not what I could consider main characters, are wonderfully fleshed out. I was so impressed by the dimensionality with which Perry was able imbue such an extensive cast.
“I think it possible to put flesh on the bones of our terrors, most of all when we have turned our back on God.”
While the mystery of the Serpent is of course at the forefront of the story and the minds of its characters, I felt that the true theme of the novel was friendship, the different forms it can take and the ways in which it changes. My favorite friendship in the novel was that between Cora and Will, which was the most central to the story. These two have such opposing views on so many aspects of life, and yet they were almost instant bosom friends, to take a term from Anne of Green Gables. Their relationship brought to the narrative the age old question of how well religion can co-exist with science, as well as why they are so often seemingly at odds. This is a topic that has always endlessly fascinated me, and I thought Perry utilized her characters to present a very well balanced argument for both sides, without ever using them as mouthpieces to push her own views. I have the utmost respect for how she was able to let her characters have their own points of view without forcing them to present her own.
“We both speak of illuminating the world, but we have different sources of light, you and I.”
I had feared that this novel would be slow, and I wasn’t wrong. But I didn’t mind that in the least.  It felt true to life, full of small, quiet dramas that build to larger dramas until quieting down once again. Whether these were individual, medical dramas, interrelational friendship dramas, or the more village-wide dramas of mass superstition boiling to a head, Perry handled all of these in ways that felt organic and realistic. The intersectionality of these dramas, how they all tied into one another while still being very much their own issues, also felt true. This novel gave me so much food for thought in so many ways, and I know I’ll be thinking on it for months to come.
“It was necessary to be afraid in order to have courage.”
The Essex Serpent is literary fiction of the highest order. What I mean is that the writing is not only beautiful, but is also beautifully wielded to paint a masterpiece of a story, which would never have worked without prose of this caliber. What could have been boring or plodding instead ended up being enchanting and transporting and purposefully meandering. I have the utmost respect for this novel and its author, and am very thankful for the lovely cover that convinced me to pick up a story I thought for sure wouldn’t hold my interest. It’s one of the rare instants where I love being proven wrong.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

Mariane Ferrantino 

Beautiful prose at times…it just…ends?

Bee 

Got about 20 pages in and had to let it go. 
Just could NOT get into this book.
It bored me and was not worth my time.

Melody Izard

I both cleaved and cleaved this book. I recognized it's beauty, but was not in a position to scrunch it between my toes. I bored into it, yet set it aside. I saw the richness, but did not taste it. I should not have tried to read it during a vacation with planned activities and accompanied by 8 of my running buddies. It should have been a book I loved, but I merely loved finishing it.

Amanda Wells

I loved this book.
It was so cleverly written, but at the same time it felt like a "quick read". There were so many different perspectives, but it never got confusing - even when the perspective shifted from person to person mid-paragraph (don't worry, it isn't confusing).

I loved the relationships in here, I loved that almost all characters were treated with complexity. I loved the mystery, the history, and the setting. All in all, it almost felt as though this book was written for me!

I also appreciate that this book seems to be the product of several story ideas all rolled into one - and they're different enough that it adds depth to the book without it seeming to be a hodgepodge. 

Anyway, obviously I recommend this book. I read it because it had a snake on the cover, and I needed that for a book challenge I was doing - thanks Paige for sending it to me! But I would recommend it now regardless! I'll be thinking about this book for a long while, I think. And I'll definitely keep my eyes open for Sarah Perry in future.

Emily Perkovich

This entirely too long book bored me out of my damn mind. Too many unnecessary sub plots. I’d rather have had three novels about these historical story lines than just the one. Was i supposed to fall in love with Cora and her traumatic past? I’m not sure.

Jade Flynn

Read for my 'Exceeds Expectations' N.E.W.T in Potions 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - Book with the cover in your Hogwarts house colour. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. This was probably one of the most hyped books on BookTube two or so years ago, which is why I didn't pick it up sooner and I'm glad I made that decision. If Dickens was born in this day and age, he'd probably have written something similar to The Essex Serpent. The prose was beautiful, especially Perry's descriptions of landscapes. For fans of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.

A beautiful novel that is very rich in nuanced themes and various interpretations - I loved it!

Please don't go into this one expecting a simple gothic thriller or romance - you'll just be disappointed. But if you go in expecting a nuanced portrayal of the various ways human beings react to what we fear (avoidance, aggression, wild superstition, insisting on rationality, etc.) and what we desire (same large range of options explored) then you'll find a great source of inspiration for your own thoughts. It's also about the interesting questions of how to be a (good) friend, how to be friends with the opposite sex, with a rival, how to be more selfless, or how to accept that you'll never be great or exceptional, how to connect with an autistic son (in an age that knew nothing about neurodiversity). Not in a didactic way, just by characters making mistakes and sometimes finding better ways, sometimes not. This is not the kind of condescending book that's trying to tell you how to live life. 

Nobody in here is a stereotype (e.g. it's the local pastor who is most representative of both rationality and earthy sensuality). Nobody is perfect, but most are striving to be the best people they can be. Our main character Cora has just emerged from a very abusive marriage (to the kind of guy who plucked out her hairs slowly one by one) and this has left her fearful of (yet also desirous for) love and intimacy, of being a woman, of being fully, viscerally embodied, of being seen in a sexual way. People here want love (and want to love others), want to avoid pain, want to avoid causing pain, and life is life and bruises happen. 

Overall, characters move from wild fancies and projections toward a more truthful, disillusioned view of each other - and the miracle is that for most, this doesn't lead to bitterness, resentment or pessimism, but instead helps them see and love each other more selflessly, more maturely. 

There's also the mythical Essex serpent - representing what characters fear the most (sexuality, illness, death, losing a loved one,...), what they project their various nightmares onto, and which also (view spoiler)[becomes real, normal, pitiable, losing the ability to cause much terror in the light of truth and honesty (hide spoiler)]. So here also, we have a narrative movement of the imagination, the wild, mythical fancy, towards the real and "mundane" - but is the mundane truly mundane? The characters don't lose their ability to find miracles, to wonder at life. 

This complex interplay of prejudice, snap judgments, projections, and wild guesses with reality and clear discernment of truth is played with throughout the novel - sometimes it's funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes relieving, sometimes wondrous to see the truth. But this is by no means the novel's only theme: there's science/religion/spirituality/superstition, there's overcoming complex trauma, there's illness and death, there's the shock of violence and irreversible harm and damage, there's political activism for the poor, there's learning to live with your limitations and imperfections, there's learning to love. 

At the same time, this novel's language is really beautiful and very evocative: it feels as if you're there in person: seeing, hearing and smelling everything. 

So, I have the feeling that the novel's popularity and bestseller-status have actually harmed its rating, because I think many people bought it looking for a creepy uncomplicated monster yarn, with maybe some bodices coming undone as well - and then in reality it's this very complex web of subtlety to appreciate and think about. But if it's the latter you're looking for, then I highly recommend it.

Lucy Hacker

Very underwhelming - there are some great bits that build Victorian tension and hysteria excellently, but otherwise I found it rather dull.

The Essex Serpent The number one bestseller and British Book Awards Book of the Year