Book Review: The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry (2016)
I’d heard mention of this highly recommended book a number of times and finally decided to pick up a copy. A different kind of novel to anything I’ve read in a while, with an old-timer feel to it, which was in no way problematic and no doubt also entirely intentional. The author cites Thomas Hardy as an influence, which is easy to detect in her style of writing and also some of her characters to a degree. This is Wessex slightly displaced – to Essex, to be precise. The plot is about everything, and in the end nothing. Set towards the close of the nineteenth century, the storyline considers the virtues of religious faith in the face of scientific enlightenment, the best and the worst of marriage, as well as touching on milestones in medical surgery and London housing reforms. Hanging over it all is the legend of the Essex Serpent, which is unnerving the population of a small coastal village, scaring them out of their wits, driving them slightly mad. Cora Seaborne is the heroine, freed b...