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The Essex Serpent cover art

The Essex Serpent

By: Sarah Perry
Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
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Summary

Now an Apple TV series starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston

The Sunday Times number one bestseller

Overall Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2017 (Nibbies)

Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016

Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award

London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge.

On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith.

As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both.

The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.

©2016 Sarah Perry (P)2022 Profile Books Ltd

What listeners say about The Essex Serpent

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A REMARKABLE TALE

Such a splendid story of a wonderful protagonist.
A very special narration and I look forward to reading Sarah Perry’s next book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting story

A very good story, though rather rambling, but made especially good with the excellent narration by Juanita McMahon.

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1 person found this helpful

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Simply wonderful

Brilliantly written and original story.
First class narration.
Highly recommend a listen. Didn’t want it to end.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Essex Serpent

The story is well plotted, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the narration; was she reading from an autocue? Strange phrasing, and some odd pronunciation-s (Collect, pulpit Luke - Garrett)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Loved this!

A really engaging story with well described characters. The reading was great although I was never sure about the way Cora’s accent/ speech impediment was handled!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration Issues

The narrator's voice is droll or overdone, so much so the story is lost on me

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Breath-taking

Quite possibly the best book I read this year! Beautiful in every way. Read it!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Not what I expected.

I tried this due to the adaptation by AppleTV. It was very slowly read. I listened to it at 1.2 speed and it sounded normal. It’s slow going and I made it to the end, but it did find it uninteresting.

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  • Overall
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Fantastic narration by Juanita McMahon

Lovely evocation of gothic and sensuality. Immersive and elusive at the same time. You get drawn into the Aldwinter village setting and its characters.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

slow burner but worth the read

it took me a little while to get I to the story and the characters. But it is worth pursuing.

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