Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Essex Serpent
Sarah Perry
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Essex Serpent
Sarah Perry
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry, is the story of a mythical serpent on the coast of Essex, England in 1893 and the characters who try to find it as well as themselves. Cora mourns her dead husband although their marriage was not a happy one. Francis, her eleven year old son and his nanny, Martha, interact in this tale of humor and humanity. One is reminded of Mary Anning’s “sea dragons” from London’s Natural History Museum and Tracy Chevalier’s book “Remarkable Creatures.”
The Essex Serpent is blamed for everything from a local man’s death to hens not laying, to milk turning sour. A young girl, Naomi Banks, is missing as well. Doctor Luke Garrett, called “Imp” because of his dwarfed body, is a surgeon who performed open-heart surgery before this procedure was attempted elsewhere. One evening, a man attacks Luke with a knife and mangles his hand. He fears he will never do surgery again. He writes poetic letters to Cora from London, but she does not return his affection. Rather, the nanny, Martha, and Luke find one another in the woods. Perhaps they are drawn together because of their deformities.
Martha is concerned about the lack of housing for London‘s poor homeless and encourages Spencer, Imp’s wealthy friend, to help build low-rent housing for the poor. Stella, the wife of Vicar William Ransome, is always chilled and collects all things blue: blue notebook paper, blue shells, etc. Ransome and Cora relate to each other as both are curious about the Essex Serpent and both question religion.
Will the Essex Serpent ever be found or seen? Does it exist? Will Luke be content without his profession? Without Cora? What will happen to Cora, and to her son Francis, to Stella and William? Author Perry makes us care about these characters as she makes them live. Find this excellent novel in the fiction room of your Mendocino Community Library.
The Essex Serpent is blamed for everything from a local man’s death to hens not laying, to milk turning sour. A young girl, Naomi Banks, is missing as well. Doctor Luke Garrett, called “Imp” because of his dwarfed body, is a surgeon who performed open-heart surgery before this procedure was attempted elsewhere. One evening, a man attacks Luke with a knife and mangles his hand. He fears he will never do surgery again. He writes poetic letters to Cora from London, but she does not return his affection. Rather, the nanny, Martha, and Luke find one another in the woods. Perhaps they are drawn together because of their deformities.
Martha is concerned about the lack of housing for London‘s poor homeless and encourages Spencer, Imp’s wealthy friend, to help build low-rent housing for the poor. Stella, the wife of Vicar William Ransome, is always chilled and collects all things blue: blue notebook paper, blue shells, etc. Ransome and Cora relate to each other as both are curious about the Essex Serpent and both question religion.
Will the Essex Serpent ever be found or seen? Does it exist? Will Luke be content without his profession? Without Cora? What will happen to Cora, and to her son Francis, to Stella and William? Author Perry makes us care about these characters as she makes them live. Find this excellent novel in the fiction room of your Mendocino Community Library.