Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent (2016)
Perhaps because the nineteenth century saw the rise of the novel as a literary form, giving us an unprecedented number of imagined narratives about daily life and relationships, there’s a particular fascination in trying to go “behind the curtain” of the period and discern what the Victorians did NOT say in their fiction. Due to societal expectations and conventions, there were many things they could not talk about directly (at least in English — perhaps Continental fiction was more frank). What would Victorian novelists write if this secret history could be revealed, and what would we learn about their real thoughts and feelings?
In more recent times, this question has given rise to compelling novels by the likes of John Fowles, A.S. Byatt, and Sarah Waters, among others. They try to embody aspects of the narrative voice of a bygone age, while retaining a modern sensibility that illuminates the past in a new light. A new entry in this seductive sub-genre is The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, which takes on the clash of science, faith, and superstition that erupted in the wake of Darwin’s discoveries. Symbol and focus of this cultural turmoil is the mysterious Essex Serpent, which had reputedly been sighted in a seaside town centuries ago, and now seems to be appearing again. Is it a judgment? A scientific marvel? A relic from ancient times? A supernatural warning, or wonder? Or something far more banal and ordinary, given fantastic clothing by the ever-active human imagination?
This is a novel of many characters, switching back and forth between different points of view: a young widow with an abusive past and a yen for paleontology; her son, who baffles her with his strange rituals and emotional distance; their working-class radical nurse-companion; a twisted genius of a surgeon; his less-brilliant, but extremely kind friend; a brisk country vicar struggling to conquer superstition in his parish and unholy longings in himself; his tubercular wife, beset by visions; and many others.
The premise sounded irresistible to me, yet even though The Essex Serpent had all the ingredients for a book I ought to love, I had a hard time warming to it somehow. Perhaps this was partly because the constant switching of perspective also made it hard for me to settle into the story. Certain threads and relationships were not developed as much as I would have liked, as the zigzagging plot kept dropping one to pick up another. I remained oddly distant from the characters, and sometimes had the sensation of being told rather than shown about their characteristics; they felt intellectually constructed out of era-appropriate ingredients (paleontology, advances in medical science, religious doubt, consumption, sexual repression, etc.) rather than spontaneously living.
Unsettling is definitely what The Essex Serpent is all about, though, so perhaps this is an appropriate effect. And at the end, suddenly, the characters came together in a way that surprised me, bringing them to life more vividly. If the book had gone on from there for another hundred pages or so, I might have felt more connected to it.
I don’t know why the alchemy of this book did not quite work for me, and you may have a completely different reaction. I hope you will read it to find out for yourself, and please let me know what you thought.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book. For more information, visit the tour page or click on the links below.
Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
About Sarah Perry
Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. Her first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Folio Prize. She lives in Norwich. The Essex Serpent is her American debut.
Find out more about Sarah at her website, and connect with her on Twitter.
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The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
I agree about the being told rather than shown what the characters are like. I’m not always against telling instead of showing, but in this case, I wanted to see Cora collecting and studying fossils. I wanted more of William’s confrontations with superstition. I rarely felt I was inside the story with the characters.
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Yes, that’s how I felt too. Sort of like I was off stage from where all the real action was happening.
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I totally agree with your review Lory and Teresa’s comment. I felt the author relied on the characters eccentricities to give the reader a picture rather than showing us them in action. I also had trouble with adults using each other’s first names so readily. I didn’t think that was “done” in Victorian times…like that was a kind of intimacy that would not have been given so freely.
I wanted to love this book so much, I had heard such great reviews from UK readers but it did not live up to the hype for me. But I think readers who particularly enjoy evocative writing will appreciate it; it was very atmospheric.
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Oh, yes, the casual use of first names bothered me! That did not seem authentic. Details like that niggled at me and prevented me from fully enjoying the writing, which was indeed very atmospheric, but also seemed very much twenty-first century.
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I have been trying to get a hold of this for weeks, so I was really interested in your reaction, Lori. The blurbs all sound like something I would like, but as you and some of these comments suggest, it may not live up to the hype (for me). But I will still give it a try.
However, that cover is beautiful!
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I would not want to discourage anyone from reading it — many readers have adored it, and you might too. Please give it a chance!
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Oh, I didn’t take it that way!
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book for the tour.
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Thank you for the opportunity, Heather.
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I have to say that I’m one of the readers who loved it! It’s a year since I read it, so I can’t recall it in detail but I don’t recall the switching of perspectives bothering me particularly. I do think that perhaps she tried to stuff too much into one novel, which might be another way of saying that some characters or threads were underdeveloped.
Nevertheless, I adored her writing, her ability to evoke atmosphere, time and place, her lush vocabulary and syntax, it was all pure pleasure for me. But I did read it just as the hype was starting. I do feel that if your book is anything less than perfect, hype is unhelpful (yet hard to combat).
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Not that I mean that your criticisms were influenced one way or another by the hype! They are good criticisms! 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed the book! I think it was some kind of personal chemistry thing with me. And I think I might like it more on a reread – then the hype is not an issue.
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I’m very curious about this book, but I’ve heard mixed things from other bloggers as well. I’ll wait and see if I can get it from the library.
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I hope you will check it out and see what you think.
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I flipped through this book in a shop the other day because I love the cover and title. I have just started another book that seems to have the same problem of just telling instead of showing. This really bores me, so I may have to pass this book by. (Though I may forget the critiques I’ve read and still pick it up one day just because of the cover…)
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The cover is very tempting! I think you need to read a few chapters to tell if it’s for you or not, though. Some readers did not have the same experience I did at all.
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