The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

I am pretty sad to report that this was a wholly disappointing book! I was very excited to read some Sarah Perry after hearing the acclaim of this novel as well as another of her popular titles, Melmoth -  in fact, The Essex Serpent won the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2016. I may become pretty unpopular for my controversial opinion of this gothic historical fiction novel, but it really fell short of my expectations. 

The title, as well as a the synopsis of the book, was promising - I was hoping for a moody, creepy novel about a giant snake terrorising a nineteenth-century society and claiming its victims with a pair of pointy fangs. Described as towing the line between 'myth and modernity', the novel promised to deliver a story packed full of suspense and horror. I hate to say that it rather reminded me of a Virginia Woolf novel (another of my unpopular opinions - I highly dislike Woolf after an excruciating university module dedicated entirely to the author!) in both its format as well as the fact that not very much really happened. There - I said it!

This novel is allegedly based on real events, which given the blurb I would hardly have believed. In reality, this is probably true. The winged, horned and snarling basilisk which I had hoped for turned out to be no more than a large eel washing up on a beach and a city full of people who had rather let their imaginations get the better of them. I think the novel is intended to suggest that people's fear is often the most harmful thing - more harmful than the reality itself. A couple of people were found dead on the shore (presumably drowned) and this was attributed to a large serpent which could fly out of the water and attack people. If only this had been true, it would have made for a much more exciting plot! There were a few moments throughout the book which induced slight suspense, but nothing much more than that, unfortunately.

I realise that it sounds like I'm being awfully harsh, when in reality this was not a bad book at all. In fact, I enjoyed Perry's writing style and her characters were interesting and well-developed. I enjoyed the epistolary format of the novel as well as the scattered diary entries of Stella Ransome, who is slowly losing her mind, throughout. The protagonist Cora Seaborne is likeable and quirky - a widow who is described as out-there and androgynous, not adhering to eighteenth-century feminine ideals whatsoever and preferring to roll around in mud and get herself into all sorts of scrapes. Here is a protagonist I can get on board with! It's a shame that the plot was somewhat of a dead end, given the interesting characters and great potential this novel had.

Despite my strong opinions, I can see what Perry was trying to do here. The message is certainly a moral warning or allegory which highlights the danger of gossip, fear and panic and how one's own mind can be the most powerful enemy. The novel also explores the relationship between science and faith, as the protagonist is logical-minded and believes in the scientific rationale behind everything, in contrast with her friend Will, a local vicar (married to Stella with three children) who is entirely devoted to the supernatural and the 'divine presence'. 

A review I read from another reader suggested that the Victorian era backdrop of the novel wasn't entirely convincing. Will and Cora have a strong bond which is at first seemingly a friendship but then takes a swift romantic turn - his wife Stella (practically house-bound with consumption and clearly of numbered days) is unusually accepting of their odd relationship and in fact encourages them somewhat. As the reviewer pointed out, in the eighteenth-century a relationship between a married vicar and a widow (which involved sneaking around behind trees and plenty of sexual tension!) would certainly have been the subject of much more gossip and outrage. I feel that none of this would have mattered if the plot had been more engaging, but I really spent the entirety of this novel waiting for something to happen, or for it to hit an electrifying crescendo in which a mammoth serpent flies out of the water and goes on a death rampage. Sadly, it was not to be!