June book club - The Essex Serpent

Received the book last Friday and have just started it. It certainly is very gripping to date. Shall post more when I've finished.

I also received my copy on Friday, First of all I love the cover, the colours and illustrations are stunning. A lovely touch is the matching bookmark inside. I have only read a very few pages as have had visitors all weekend but I think I'm going to enjoy it very much and will report back later in the month.

Thank you for my copy received last week. Yes, half term week so 'little guests' occupying the spare rooms. I
go,to bed shattered and they wake up early!!!! So I also have only read the first few chapters but look forward to getting stuck on now that we have taken them home.

I received an email inviting me to download the e-reader version but my Kindle Fire declared the site unsafe and my ipad wouldn't download it either. Has anyone else had a problem ?

I am trying to download it too and having a bit of a problem as it says the link is not available. You are not the only one Marion6
It also says order pending so I may give it some time and try again later.

I have just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I didn't know GN was giving away copies -drat! It was worth paying for anyway which says a lot I reckon.

I also had problems downloading my copy so I contacted the publishers who responded immediately and sent me a copy via Email. I have successfully downloaded it to my iPad and am ready to go!

They replied immediately to me too EllenMay and I now have the book on my Kindle

My Kindle declared that the site was unsafe too.
I have emailed them and hope to hear from them soon.

I'm also having problems downloading the book. I have sent two e-mails and am still waiting.

I had problems downloading as well, but received an email with the ebook attached. It is now in my minikobo and I have read the first few pages. Many thanks.

Many thanks for my copy. I'm in the middle of another book at the moment but looking forward to starting this one. In the meantime, I love the beautiful artwork on the cover and the bookmark.

Just an update to say I have now received my ebook and transferred it to my Kindle. I look forward to starting it later today.

A quick note of apology to those who had technical difficulties getting the ebook to download. The issue has now been fixed - if you have not been successful please try again and it should be working fine.

Best wishes,
All at Serpent's Tail.

serpentstail.com/the-essex-serpent-6636.html

Thoroughly enjoyed this lovely book, it was beautifully descriptive, emotional, enchanting and sad, it held my attention from start to finish. Thank you.

A brilliant tale - mixing science and supertition with a good helping of rumour to create an authentic story of the fear of the unknown which grips the village and it's residents.The author has given a Victorian flavour to her writing, but so much easier for a modern reader to take in than true Victorian writing.
She also explores the friendship and love between characters and how they deal with feelings they think they should perhaps resist.
The characters , particularly female, are strong and so different from each other - I particularly like Martha, and would be interested in reading more about her.
Also the beatiful dustcover must be mentioned - absolutely lovely!

Was interested to read what Martha said about housing for the poor and how it was taken away if tennents didn't lead a sober life. Even today people who have housing association homes can have them taken away if their gardens are not kept neat and tidy.

I too had trouble downloading the ebook but was successful in the end. Unfortunately I may well not get it read before the end of the month - but will endeavor to try.

received a link to get an e-book but the link will not work, having seen other comments will try again but may not be able to read in time.

A very interesting book - I found it hard at times to realise it was set in Victorian times as the issues and events so mirrored those to today.
A gripping read, but with an unusual ending. I tend to like the ends neatly tied.
Martha's socialist conscience, Spencer having too much money and wanting to impress her, the chap Martha shacks up with, the extraordinary connection between Will and Cora and Stella, the autistic boy; all fascinating characters well drawn and very engaging.

Thank you for my copy. I am about halfway through and really enjoying it. I seem to have missed out on the matching bookmark but must say that the cover is superb - so eyecatching. I love looking at it every time I pick the book up.

Beautiful book, starting with the cover and the bookmark, and then to the story inside. I loved all the different characters and the way they related to each other,with different types of love and friendship. The history of the times was interesting as well, and then of course the tale of the serpent and effected the lives of the villagers were. As someone else said, I particularly liked Martha and would liked to have known more about her.

Thank you for the book. It invoked a real sense of the Essex marshes, conjuring up an atmosphere of disquiet and 'other-worldliness'. I was surprised how 'modern' the story felt, given that it was set in "Victorian' .

I didn't really like any of the characters however and I think that was because I never felt that I got to know any of them in any detail- they were rather two dimensional for me. I like to feel connected to the characters in a story, and none of them really came alive for me.

Overall I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't a page turner for me. I think the story had too many threads which prevented the development of key characters.