The Essex Serpent: A Novel

I found the story line engaging, but the characters really pulled me into the book. They ring true, and I could imagine myself sitting with them and enjoying being part of the conversation. If you enjoy well written prose and great characters, you should enjoy The Essex Serpent.

The people and the points of nature were clearly drawn. The characters elicited very distinct emotions- from distaste to affection- in different parts of the novel. They were all beautifully realized.

No time for a review but loved this book - characters are distinctive, the historic and geographic contexts are wonderfully described, and the moral, scientific and philosophic dilemmas are explored in a very accessible, nuanced way.

Masterful use of the English language. Her descriptions are to the point and wonderfully colorful and unexpected. Surprising to find such an avant-garde Victorian woman. Enjoyable and
recommended.

I have never given a book five stars. The images in this novel --the serpent itself a!omg with Stella's blue objects and Cora's sold stressed and her old man's coat --invite the reader to look beyond the actions of the characters.

If you want to immerse yourself in an exceptional Gothic Victorian tale, this is it. I recommend moving between reading the book and listening to the Audible recording, making for a divine experience.

the store suggested this as a great "MYSTERY GENRE" book, along with Magpie Murders- which I liked, and Midnight at the Bright Ideas Book Store- which I have not yet read. SO, I bought all three books in the hard cover editions based upon the recommendation. Reading this book I would have rated it a solid three stars. But as it slogged along page after page, it went down to two stars and then one star. At least one hundred pages could have been cut from the book. Not Jane Austen, but not anything else either. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your money.

Beautiful rendering of the Essex coast forms the basis for this book that follows an extended group of Victorian friends and family as they grapple with loss, growth and the challenges of superstition in a modernising world. It brings a new vigor to the era, mainly through the scientific advancement, empowerment of women and the energy of the children which are depicted so realistically. I struggled to put it down and can't recommend it highly enough.

Great novel for 350 pages, and then "pfft." I can hear her agent telling her how she needed to end the book to make sure it would sell, and she sold out. Some wonderful writing, and some chapters that moved me greatly. But so, so, so disappointed in the choice for cliched closure.

The author attempts to write as would a melding of Chopin and Hawthorne if they could but she fails abysmally. Her descriptions of sand and sea and flowers and sand and sea well you get the problem. Do not waste your time on this failed and verbose attempt. Michael

Too few books reveal humanity’s complex, but ultimately light-filled, facets. When an author boldly goes to a place where characters, while flawed, are all trying to do their best in difficult situations, we should cheer and pass the word around. In the reality based experience, we meet very few truly evil people; we meet many struggling with their darker selves, who nonetheless do good work in the world. The Essex Serpent gives us a mystery, several oddly inter-meshed love stories, and the deep pleasures of real friendships. And the prose is so lovely, the dialogues searching, the musings of fine minds extending. I just loved it.

This is just another "good book," that doesn't follow the dull agenda "and then, and then...." The research into Medicine is well done, and the actual accounting of what the mind can do with broad myths is simply well done. So is the style, leaving me to ask for more books that go beyond the detective novel. Thank you Sarah Perry.

This was really well written, with imagery that enhanced the experience and atmosphere in the novel. The story was intricate and not at all predictable with interesting characters who showed the mindset of the people of the period.

This novel was such a different experience, spiritual, mystical, a character study, a thriller, a bright peek into a Victorian age that is more alluring and feels more true than others I’ve read. I loved it, it troubled me and drew me, amused me and fascinated me.

There is certain fascination of reading about certain
characters in such depth. Cora and her life's path, the people she encounters, and the longing for love and friendship all illustrate the effect of Victorian England on her soul. At the same time there is a timelessness in her well told story which rings of the contemporary. Well worth reading. Bravo!

H