June book club - The Essex Serpent

I really looked forward to reading this book. The cover design is beautiful and the plaudits are effusive.
I didn’t warm to the language in the introductory chapters: it seemed to me overblown, overthought, overworked. If I hadn’t agreed to read and respond for this thread, I should probably have given up at this point. However, I persevered and grew to appreciate the fine detail of the author’s observations and her meticulous attention to detail.
The last few books I’ve read have been page turners (Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Robert Galbraith...story tellers all). By contrast, this book made me slow down and savour the author’s knowledge, intelligence and linguistic expertise. She had clearly done her research on a Victorian age so like our own in so many ways, with issues of housing crises, intolerable rents, political sharp practice and social upheavals. Her depiction of Stella’s tuberculosis was particularly well portrayed.
However, and this is a purely personal response, I failed to engage with any of the main characters. I didn’t empathise with them and they simply didn’t leap off the page for me. At the end, I asked myself: if there was to be a sequel, would I want to read it? And, apart from the fact that I should like to have seen how Martha’s life developed, the answer was no. From the praise heaped on this book by others though, mine may well be a minority view. And I wish the author all the best.
My question for Sarah Perry concerns her PhD in Creative Writing. Looking back at your writing before and since, what would you say has been the main impact of this on your work?

I have tried to download this book several times with no luck. I am sorry that i will not be able to read this book and review it.

Thank you for sending me a copy of the book. I have now finished reading it. As I said before the cover is very eyecatching - I can't stop looking at it. I did miss out on the matching bookmark though! I found the book quite difficult to read - far too wordy - although I did enjoy the story and especially the letters - and I had to finish it to find out what happened in the end!

I agree with mbody. I have now finished reading it and am glad that I did. I did keep wondering what was going to happen and it was different to my expectation. Thanks again.

I was given the book as a Father's Day present and am about one third of the way through. In the first few pages the style seemed rather overwrought, and rather than Dickens or Bram Stoker, as one of the blurbs suggested, I was thinking of Precious Bane and Cold Comfort Farm, and then of Baring-Gould's Mahalah's Country with its description of the Essex saltings.

But I am now fully in tune with the author's style and greatly enjoying it.

I found this book quite hard to get through, the style of writing is not one I prefer. However, it was interesting and made quite a change for me. I would like to ask the author if she finds it easy to remain in this particular style and is it one she I'll continue with.

Thanks Jane, will do.

Persevere caz! Its well worth it.

I have just started the book and am finding it difficult to get into, it hasn't drawn me in very well, a lot of prose, very little dialogue which I find hard to stay with, and a mixture of characters. I shall continue however, and return with a final comment when I have finished it.

I was lucky to receive an electronic copy just in time for a short holiday and this story has kept me thoroughly engrossed.Thank you. I was expecting to feel frustrated by a story of repressed emotions and religious and superstitious nonsense. This was far from the case; there is such a variety of characters and interlinked relationships combined with insights to the social history of the time, that I came away feeling that I wanted to read more from this period, both novels and factual perhaps. I can't say that I felt drawn to any character in particular, but I believe that this is the book's strength, if that makes sense, not drawing you into a single love story, but developing many different types of love and friendship that are all equally important. I felt that the ending was perfect, with just enough tying up of loose ends without appearing contrived. Made me wish we still lived in the era of letter writing!

I have just finished reading this book. Sadly I wasn't lucky enough to win a copy,but I am very glad I bought it anyway. The atmosphere the author created really drew me in, and I felt that Frankie, in particular, was a really well drawn character and his autism was part of his character not an affliction.
There were aspects of Victorian life I was only slightly aware of so I guess I will be looking at the Victorian history section of the library now!

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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