The Essex Serpent (Paperback)

'The Essex Serpent is one of the most memorable historical novels of the past decade.' - Nick Rennison, Sunday Times 

'An irresistible novel that taps the vein of Victorian gothic and British myth.' - Daily Telegraph 

'Hardy-esque ... a rich and complex novel but also a deeply enjoyable read, with warm humanity at its core.' - Jeff Robson, iPaper 

'An irresistible novel ... Perry's Victoriana is the most fresh-feeling I can remember ... Her prose is often beautiful ... the tone is a masterstroke ...' - Charlotte Runcie - The Daily Telegraph 

'One day this book will make a fine BBC period drama ... Perry is a wonderful descriptive writer with a remarkable talent for making the familiar strange.' - The Times

'The Essex Serpent is a novel to relish: a work of great intelligence and charm, by a hugely talented author.' - Sarah Waters

'Had Charles Dickens and Bram Stoker come together to write the great Victorian novel, I wonder if it would have surpassed The Essex Serpent?' - John Burnside

'A big, warm, generous novel that wears its considerable wisdom lightly, The Essex Serpent is an absolute pleasure from start to finish - I truly didn't want it to end.' - Melissa Harrison

'The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry [is] a joyous and beguiling book that wrapped itself around me rather like its eponymous monster.' - Cathy Rentzenbrink

'A blissful novel of unapologetic appetites, where desire and faith mingle on the marshes, but friendship is the miracle.. here is a writer who understands life.' - Jessie Burton

'A book to make you want to be a better person.' - Justine Jordan, The Guardian

'I loved this book. At once numinous, intimate and wise...It is so good its pages seem lit from within. As soon as I'd finished it I started reading it again.' - Helen MacDonald

'A sinuous historical novel by the genius that is Sarah Perry.' - Lucy Mangan, Stylist 

'An historical novel with real depth ... Perry writes fantastically, and this deserves attention for the rest of the year.' - Steven Cooper, The Bookseller 

'An intelligent, lushly written gothic yarn.' - Claire Allfree, Metro 

'Sarah Perry's new novel The Essex Serpent is a thing of beauty inside and out. For only a second novel it's a stunning achievement, one for which I predict prize nominations galore...' - Lucy Scholes, Independent online

'A richly themed and exhilarating novel ...' - Elizabeth Buchan, The Daily Mail 

'The Essex Serpent is shot through with such a vivid, lively sense of the period that it reads like Charles Dickens at his most accessible.' - Charlotte Heathcote, The Daily Express 

'Based on The Essex Serpent and its predecessor, it's clear that Perry is a gifted writer of immense ability.' - Sinead Gleeson, Irish Times 

'An eerie tale of science and superstition ... gothically good.' - Eithne Farry, The Sunday Express 

'The Essex Serpent is rare in being a novel that is both highly diverting and intellectually rewarding, in taking its thematic interests seriously while playing delightedly with romance and the Gothic.' - Sarah Moss, The Lancet 

'It's a brilliantly written story of one woman's life and relationships in late Victorian England and my favourite historical novel since Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger.' - Irish Independent