"Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry (BR)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

It just so happens that a couple of us were reading this at the same time, so we're doing a buddy read!

Please join in as you see fit!

Please use chapter numbers and spoiler tags for any specifics.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Thank you Allison for opening the thread according to lore.



Since I'm kind of a newbie, I've been reading other similar threads to get an idea of how to behave here. Apparently, spoilers are taboo. But I think we can round the qualities of this novel without mentioning any (view spoiler)[taboo (hide spoiler)].

First, the prose.
Sarah Perry's writing here is a wonderful intrument, delicate and sweeping at once. This is a very literary novel, sometimes to a fault: there are passages that seem ready to be used in Creative Writing classes. Incidentally, that's also where the tv series falls short: Perry's sudden flights in changing perspectives and atmosphere are nearly impossible to reproduce on the screen.

Second, the characters.
Each of them (and I mean each) is so vivid, with their peculiar quirks and qualities, that they really seem to come to life. That is where the tv series might have helped, but the book stands on its own in this regard, too. Although, well, Tom Hiddleston doesn't hurt.

Third, the historical setting.
I can only marvel at the depth of the research that went into this (and just now much fun it must have been for Perry). And a side effect of that richness is leaving the reader wondering about the possibilities that history (with a capital H) didn't take. This is not steampunk, but I was lead into a good deal of what ifs.

[Olga]

I’ve read it a few months ago, will gladly stand aside and spy on your journey )))

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I think that's all well said, A!

I have a very soft place in my heart for Regency-esque writing, and I think this works in a really fun way here. It feels fresh but also so quaint and sophisticated too.

I'm not as far in, about 1/3 through, but so far I'm having fun.

I agree the characters are very interesting! I'm very much wondering where their story arcs will go. I really like having (view spoiler)[ someone with a speech impediment, a son with something like Autism, a somewhat queer coded friendship AND a discussion of what abuse does to someone (hide spoiler)] in a lively, bright character. Just a really cool to see, you know a person who does person things.

I agree, I'm getting sort of Jinni and the Golem vibes, in that the setting is essentially a character unto itself, and I just love that.

Curious where the (view spoiler)[ church subplot is going, and if the serpent is going to be a metaphor, like a scarlet letter rather than a Saskquatch. (hide spoiler)]

[a.g.e. montagner]

Hi Olga!
You're welcome to join with your own impressions. Have you seen the series, by any chance? (I need to stop talking about that...)

Allison, you've highlighted a couple of aspects that I think are important. These characters are lived in; they are scarred, physically and otherwise, and it makes them very real.
And yes, there are all kind of concerns that we would consider very "contemporary" woven into the narrative. Spoilerous examples: (view spoiler)[Francis shows many sings of autism and at certain points Cora and Martha seem to be engaged in a Boston marriage. (hide spoiler)] The Essex set is also very interesting, if you haven't got that far.

I'm actually 70% in, with only Part IV left to read, "These Last Times of Rebellion"; but I'm using this Buddy Read for some re-reading. Which sounds perverse, considering that I've already spent months with this novel, while reading other things; but why not.

I suppose you're talking about The Golem and the Jinni series?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

ah yes, I inversed it! thanks for figuring out what I meant.

definitely agree about the lived in quality. I'm really hoping that nothing untoward happens in Essex, I like and respect them all too much!

[a.g.e. montagner]

I wanted to put down some impressions of my re-read. Let's see if I can do this properly.

New Year’s Eve
(view spoiler)[ A great set piece, very atmospheric. It opens the novel’s chronological axis, that will move along the solar year (although which year can be only guessed — more on that later). It’s also a sly way of introducing this setting: the following chapters will be so engrossing that the reader might temporarily forget about this brief introduction and, when the narrative eventually returns to Aldwinter, forget they have already been here. (hide spoiler)]

January
(view spoiler)[ All the main London characters are introduced here (except for the Ambroses). All of them are rich, complex, full of flaws and flair. Michael Seaborne is loathsome, but he seems to have been universally despised. Martha is interesting, even if coming across at times like an exercise in box-ticking: the working-class Socialist activist queer female character. (hide spoiler)]

February
1.
(view spoiler)[ I did not remember the narrative moved to Essex so early, and that the irresistible beggar Thomas Taylor made his appearance here already; but what is there to do after the death of your husband, after all, if not relocate to the coast of Essex. The entire scene is orchestrated as one continuous take, moving from outdoors to indoors, and alternating among the characters.

The passing mention of Gladstone might help in guessing in which year exactly does the novel take place. If Charles Ambrose is talking about William Ewart Gladstone, then the timing falls within the Victorian era, or the 19th century.
Also, which novel is Martha going to read? I was going to bet on Herland: A Lost Feminist Utopian Novel By Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but the time of publication doesn't fit. (hide spoiler)]

2.
(view spoiler)[ After having followed the Seabornes to Colchester, it was only natural that the next cut would be to Aldwinter, introduced by yet another viewpoint — and who better than Will Ransome himself; so that we first see Aldwinter from his perspective. The Essex serpent starts making bigger waves in the narrative, somewhere between folklore and superstition. A parallel might be spotted with the creatures imagined by the Ransome children: Joanna has an invisible pet and John a midnight creature living under his bed. If that is the case, then the narrative seems to be suggesting already that Will, self-appointed guardian of “rational” faith, will have no more control over The Trouble than he has over the beings dreamed up by his own children.

I'm not particularly interested in discussions of faith, especially of the monotheist variety; but different positions have already cropped up on this theme as well, and they will be developed further later on. (hide spoiler)]

[a.g.e. montagner]

(edit: for a couple of days I couldn't use my PC and accessed the thread from my phone; apparently the spoiler tags don't work properly on the app versions, either for Android or iOs...)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Wow Alessandro, these are so good. Forgive me for a bit of a slow reply, I want to engage with you fully!

I had put the book somewhere in the 1870s or maybe early 1880s--when the London tube was common but still rather posh. I think your historical digging is likely more accurate.

I chuckled at your "what is there to do" sentence! I did like that (view spoiler)[ everyone else kind of said the same thing. You're a young widow with a boy who needs lots of care and a ton of wealth. What do you do? FISHING COUNTRY?! Really, Cora?? (hide spoiler)]

And no, spoiler tags do not work in app, which causes us no end of inconvenience.

I do have somewhat of a hard time keeping some of the cast straight--the two men following Martha about are somewhat interchangeable to me even though I know (view spoiler)[ that one is very wealthy and one was stabbed. (hide spoiler)]

I'm enjoying the discussion on friendship, love, and kindness, especially when religion is NOT involved. The idea that (view spoiler)[ Cora thought that as a widow she would not be desired sexually for at least awhile was well portrayed, I think. It's certainly something that women my age say to each other a lot--how can they still see us as something to possess or conquer? We should be free of the vagaries of youth. I like the way it's discussed as an "innocence" being lost, that someone announcing feelings that likely aren't reciprocated isn't brave or freeing, it's often very offputting.

And gosh the hand scene was quite gruesome. I don't mind body horror, but that was disturbingly focused.

I think that's what I am enjoying, that there's a sort of hazy, almost Lovecraftian mist around some elements of the story--the Blackwater, Stella's fascination with Virgin blue, Frankie's worldview-- and intense focus on others, like the hand as a turning point, some of the correspondence, the sheep incident, finding the oarfish. It keeps us in a space of discovery because at some point we know the mist may lift and suddenly we'll find our sea creature, but until then we're floating in a story space. (hide spoiler)]

[a.g.e. montagner]

Allison, don't worry about the waiting.
I'm getting used to chat with people who write from different time zones — and not just in this thread! In fact, ever since I started following you, I've been marvelling how you manage to apparently be everywhere all at once; so if anything, I'm in awe.

I haven't really been reading much yesterday, while you seem to have jumpstarted (view spoiler)[to the hand-slashing incident. (hide spoiler)] On which I agree with you: I clean skipped the entire paragraph, which is something that I hardly ever remember doing.

I suppose "the two men following Martha" (view spoiler)[ are Luke Garrett and George Spencer? Are you you mixing up the names? Because they seem very different personalities otherwise. In particular, one is in love with Cora, while the other is fond of Martha. (hide spoiler)]

I agree about (view spoiler)[ the quietly creeping atmosphere of some passages (the New Year's Eve section works well in presaging what follows). They are also balanced by a frequently light, self-mocking tone which is missing, for he most part, from the screen adaptation, which focuses more on mystery and foreboding. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

End of the book:

(view spoiler)[ I'm so glad that Cora and Will don't cheat on Stella! I'm getting Ethan Frome vibes from their relationship. And also a Guenever/Arthur/Lance thing where all of them know the reality, and all of them are contstrained by society. I can feel the set up for season two which ends in a wedding but not without conflict. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Also, not Luke and Spencer, the other guy. Michael Burton? George Burton? He and Spencer melded into one for me

[a.g.e. montagner]

Sorry about the M.I.A., I was clearing up other readings.
I finished the book yesterday and I'm ready to discuss at length!

I'll start with something trivial, the vote.
Having moved among networks I use a personal scale for assessing books, and only assign top marks to what I consider masterworks. Which this book isn't; but its list of qualities is so long and illustrious that four stars seem inadequate. So I've tentatively opted for a five star rating that actually follows goodreads guidelines.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Regarding Edward Burton:

(view spoiler)[He is a clerk who first appears in April, chapter 2 as a candidate for Luke Garrett's pioneering heart surgery. Following the unlikely success of the operation Burton is kept under watch at his place in Bethnal Green by Garrett's nurse Maureen Fry, who brings Martha, who brings (if I remember correctly) both Cora and the Ambroses, and in short the whole London set becomes more or less regulars, when they're in town.

The attentions later (August, chapter 1) bring a sense of jealousy in Samuel Hall, the man who originally knifed Burton. Hall then decides to stage a revenge which eventually results in Luke Garrett's hand stabbing.

Later still (September, chapter 2), Martha takes an interest when the Burtons risk loosing their home, and brings Edward to see Eleanor Marx. Edward more or less falls in love with Martha, and towards the end of the novel Martha decides to move in with Edward. At which point Spencer realises he has no chance with Martha, ad resolves to use his wealth to become their landlord, anonymously.
(hide spoiler)]

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I read that and then immediately conflated the two again XD

I guess they just didn't stand out much for me. I have money bags and socialist and those are their key characteristics.

I think there's a lot beautiful and well crafted here, for sure. What did you think of the letters (view spoiler)[ confessing love to Cora and her different responses? (hide spoiler)]

[a.g.e. montagner]

I think... I need to think more on that!

(view spoiler)[The web of love interests centering on Cora is probably the aspect of the novel that I find most hard to disentangle. Does that make sense?
Maybe it's because the whole thing is inappropriate: Martha and Luke Garrett and obviously Will Ransome all have their crush on Cora... and none of them should, according to morals.
But the characters often draw outside the lines: the Boston marriage between Cora and Martha; Martha and Luke having sex on midsummer night; Martha deciding not to marry Edward Burton... (hide spoiler)]

On the other hand, I've spent some time thinking about William and Stella Ransome (on a side note: this novel left me with a lot to unpack! I don't remember the last time that happened).

(view spoiler)[While I'm not religious and, like Cora, I would probably have enjoyed disagreeing with Will on most subjects, he's a very relatable character nonetheless, and the quiet love he and Stella share is something that we could all look up to, I think. (hide spoiler)]

[a.g.e. montagner]

Let's try to get this straight once and for all:

(view spoiler)[Luke Garrett: surgeon, in love with Cora; stabbed in the hand.
George Spencer: surgeon, rich, friend of Luke's, crush on Martha.
Edward Burton: clerk, working class; stabbed in the heart; also crush on Martha. (hide spoiler)]

Another point.

(view spoiler)[ I was discussing the lack of real changes for the characters with the person who recommended the book to me... and how that's actually a good thing.

In the end, both Stella and Naomi are still alive; the Ransome children are still at the Ambroses' in London; and nothing really happened between Will and Cora. But that's not the point, is it? (hide spoiler)]