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A review by turrean
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
What an IRRITATING novel. I feel rather cheated, having been led astray by promises of cryptids.
The writing is full of wit and insight. It reminds me very much of Middlemarch, probably because of Cora’s unmourned husband. The Victorian setting works perfectly as the backdrop for a story about the conflict between society’s expectations and human nature.
But the book limped to a halt, rather than an end, with little resolved, and with a very very local and limited salvation at the hands of one rich benefactor, while the rest of creation is still ground under the oppressor’s heel (quite a Dickensian ending, actually.) The reader is left to guess how various plots conclude; the author even ends with a chapter in the present tense, as if to show the story has yet to play out.
The character with autism had moments of connection with his family and friends, but only at times convenient for the advancement of the plot.Francis agrees to help Stella stage her departure, which he does, but he immediately regrets it, and conveniently has the drawing of her scheme, so no time is wasted on difficult conversations as Cora sets out to the rescue.
The writing is full of wit and insight. It reminds me very much of Middlemarch, probably because of Cora’s unmourned husband. The Victorian setting works perfectly as the backdrop for a story about the conflict between society’s expectations and human nature.
But the book limped to a halt, rather than an end, with little resolved, and with a very very local and limited salvation at the hands of one rich benefactor, while the rest of creation is still ground under the oppressor’s heel (quite a Dickensian ending, actually.) The reader is left to guess how various plots conclude; the author even ends with a chapter in the present tense, as if to show the story has yet to play out.
The character with autism had moments of connection with his family and friends, but only at times convenient for the advancement of the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail