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

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.

Is that Sarah Perry is still alive. Beautiful writing, unforgettable characters, brims over with ideas that are are relevant today as they were in the late 19th century era the book is set in. If you want a horror novel, this isn't it. If you want what is usually packaged under the name 'gothic thriller', probably not your cup of tea either. But if you want an honest passionate rumination on love, friendship, jealousy, science, politics, class conflict, gender issues, Victorian medicine, and the looming unknown--this is it. Can't wait for her next book.

intriguing start to the story, with interesting characters... there's a "religion vs. science" theme, plus possible same-sex romance, and a parenting approach to a child who we might today consider "on the spectrum" that is unusual for its time, and some late 19th century medical practices and rising interest in inequality of social conditions, and perhaps an evolutionary mystery. Then, after all this is set in motion, the novel then seems to drift off into a soap opera. Rather disappointing in the end.

Is that Sarah Perry is still alive. Beautiful writing, unforgettable characters, brims over with ideas that are are relevant today as they were in the late 19th century era the book is set in. If you want a horror novel, this isn't it. If you want what is usually packaged under the name 'gothic thriller', probably not your cup of tea either. But if you want an honest passionate rumination on love, friendship, jealousy, science, politics, class conflict, gender issues, Victorian medicine, and the looming unknown--this is it. Can't wait for her next book.

intriguing start to the story, with interesting characters... there's a "religion vs. science" theme, plus possible same-sex romance, and a parenting approach to a child who we might today consider "on the spectrum" that is unusual for its time, and some late 19th century medical practices and rising interest in inequality of social conditions, and perhaps an evolutionary mystery. Then, after all this is set in motion, the novel then seems to drift off into a soap opera. Rather disappointing in the end.

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.