Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Essex Serpent

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

25 reviews

georgia59's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A dark, damp, moody book vividly evoking the marshes of Essex. It certainly put me in that place during the time I was reading and, unfortunately, mirrored (perhaps even increased) my low mood at the time.

There were many themes in this story including:

jealousy
love
co-dependency
grief and loss
being a woman in a man's world
faith & spirituality v reason & Darwinism
the poor-rich divide
housing for the poor (the Housing of the Working Classes Act)
the tension between one's (Cora's) place in polite society with its demands for decorum and small talk, and a need to be frank and truthful about one's real beliefs and feelings

Pros:

Historically I learnt a lot in this novel about the superstitious? belief in the Essex Serpent, the Colchester Earthquake of 1884, the knowledge at the time of surgical procedures and experimentation, the state of housing in the late C19th, tuberculosis.

The novel was even-paced and never flagged.

Excellent writing that worked very well for me.

Well drawn characters who all developed in some way during the book.

Cons:
The melancholy tone.

Although the prose was accomplished and flowing the author had a fairly frequent habit of using the same pronoun mid-sentence or paragraph when referring to a different person than the one who began the sentence/paragraph. This had the effect of pulling me up short momentarily and interrupting the narrative flow whilst I mentally sorted things out.

So, clearly more pros than cons hence 3.75 stars. Just couldn't quite bump it up to 4 stars because the tone of the book kept my mood low. This was a book with an unpredictable plot at nearly every turn, a truly new and refreshing take on the gothic historical novel.

Content Warnings

jodar's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A magnificent novel. Its elegant writing fits the late-Victorian time period and immerses the readerֹ’s senses in the environment. Its exploration of human relationships and emotions is sophisticated and complex.

The novel explores the themes of religion versus superstition, religion versus reason, friendship and love, the role of women in society and child-adult relationships. I particularly appreciated the author’s knowledgeable and nuanced portrayal of Christian life and its tensions, avoiding any of the silly stereotyping that seems to crop up so often in recent UK novels.

The characters all felt real to me: We see both their capabilities and their flaws; so too their as-often-as-not troubled relationships, in which people can care deeply for each other and yet differ strongly in their opinions and outlook on life.

Many things of heart and mind to ponder on.

Content Warnings