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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This novel makes a lot more sense when you realise it was written by someone who grew up in a strict Baptist household with no access to television or popular music, and by her own admission, is more comfortable with the 1890s.
I’m still not sure whether I enjoyed it or not... or even if the question of enjoyment is too much of a simplistic one? It was certainly crafted with lots of care, as a love letter to the late-Victorian era and pioneering women of the natural sciences.
Unfortunately, the characterisation is primarily where the novel falls down. Despite being recently widowed from an abusive husband, Cora, the main protagonist is neither sympathetic nor especially complex. The novel’s plot hinges on her hunt for the mythical ‘Essex serpent’ and the romantic entanglements she experiences on the way. The fact that both Dr Luke and Rev. Ransome are fighting over her is slightly baffling- an erotic friendship with Martha is also hinted at early in the novel and then never mentioned again feels a bit unintentionally queer bait-y- and added altogether has the effect of making Cora appear like a nineteenth century Manic Pixie Dream Girl TM.. (I like fossils, I’m not like other girls, hehe) Martha’s obsession with improving housing stock for the urban poor had the potential to be an interesting sub-plot but feels a bit tacked on. The exceptions to this are Stella, Rev. Ransome’s wife and Francis, Cora’s autistic son who become unlikely friends by bonding over their shared way of seeing the world.
Unfortunately, the characterisation is primarily where the novel falls down. Despite being recently widowed from an abusive husband, Cora, the main protagonist is neither sympathetic nor especially complex. The novel’s plot hinges on her hunt for the mythical ‘Essex serpent’ and the romantic entanglements she experiences on the way. The fact that both Dr Luke and Rev. Ransome are fighting over her is slightly baffling- an erotic friendship with Martha is also hinted at early in the novel and then never mentioned again feels a bit unintentionally queer bait-y- and added altogether has the effect of making Cora appear like a nineteenth century Manic Pixie Dream Girl TM.. (I like fossils, I’m not like other girls, hehe) Martha’s obsession with improving housing stock for the urban poor had the potential to be an interesting sub-plot but feels a bit tacked on. The exceptions to this are Stella, Rev. Ransome’s wife and Francis, Cora’s autistic son who become unlikely friends by bonding over their shared way of seeing the world.
As I wasn’t overly invested in Cora and Rev. Ransome’s romance, I’m not sure why I felt so annoyed at the way the ending fizzled out without a resolution. Having said all of this, I did still enjoy the novel. Descriptions of setting and place almost make up for the fact I had to keep reading each page twice cos I kept forgetting which interchangeable character was which. For instance, the novel opens with a description of the Thames so vivid I shivered at the fog rolling in:
“One o’clock on a dreary day and the time ball dropped at the Greenwich Observatory. There was ice on the prime meridian and ice on the rigging of the broad-beamed barges down on the busy Thames. Skippers marked the time and tide and set their oxblood sails against the north-east wind; a freight of iron was bound for Whitechapel foundry, where the bells tolled fifty against the anvil as if time were running out. Times was being served behind the walls of Newgate jail, and wasted by philosophers in cafes on the Strand; it was lost by those who wished the past were the present, and loathed by those who wished the present past. Oranges and lemons rang the chimes of St Clement’s, and Westminster’s division bell was dumb...”
I can’t think of a novel I’ve read in recent times that has had such an effect me and made me want to dive deeper into the author’s psyche. A recent interview for the Guardian sums up Sarah Perry’s writing style well: -big, filled with ideas, propulsive-
“There’s a certain terminology around the kind of literature that will always pop up on best books of the year, say: it’s very taut, very spare, as if it’s a woman who’s expected to be very thin. People write about books as if they’re women’s bodies: slender, there’s barely anything there. And I don’t write like that. I can’t. I don’t live like that. For a little while, I thought perhaps I ought to give it a shot. And it was like writing for a year with my left hand. It was just painful and terrible. So I then came to terms with the fact that this is how I write, and how could I not when I was raised reciting reams of the King James Bible and reading Shakespeare for fun? I’m not going to suddenly write frictionless prose with no speech marks.”
I will be foisting this on to everyone I know so I’ve got more folks to discuss it with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Non sapevo bene cosa aspettarmi. Una storia di Fantasy? Un romanzo che tratta della situazione delle donne durante l'ottocento?
Ancora adesso non saprei dare una risposta esatta.
Fatto sta però che il modo di scrivere di Sarah Perry è veramente ricco e delizioso da leggere, senza mai diventare pomposo.
Ancora adesso non saprei dare una risposta esatta.
Fatto sta però che il modo di scrivere di Sarah Perry è veramente ricco e delizioso da leggere, senza mai diventare pomposo.
Soft dnf for now
Writing felt weird to me but maybe I’m just not in the mood for a very winter focused book…
Writing felt weird to me but maybe I’m just not in the mood for a very winter focused book…
sad
slow-paced
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated