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The Essex Serpent: A Novel Audiobook
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Publisher Description
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A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction * Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year *A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of The Year * Waterstones Book of the Year * Costa Book Award Finalist
“A novel of almost insolent ambition—lush and fantastical, a wild Eden behind a garden gate...it’s part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable. I found it so transporting that 48 hours after completing it, I was still resentful to be back home.” —New York Times
London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was an unhappy one, and she never suited the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space, she leaves the metropolis for coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year-old son, Francis, and the boy’s nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend.
Once there, they hear rumors that after nearly three hundred years, the mythical Essex Serpent, a fearsome creature that once roamed the marshes, has returned. When a young man is mysteriously killed on New Year’s Eve, the community’s dread transforms to terror. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for religion or superstition, is immediately enthralled, certain that what locals think is a magical sea beast may be a previously undiscovered species.
Eager to investigate, she is introduced to parish vicar William Ransome, who is equally suspicious of the rumors but for different reasons: a man of faith, he is convinced the alarming reports are caused by moral panic, a flight from the correct and righteous path. As Cora and William attempt to discover the truth about the Essex Serpent’s existence, these seeming opposites find themselves inexorably drawn together in an intense relationship that will change both of them in ways entirely unexpected. And as they search for answers, Cora’s London past follows her to the coast, with striking consequences.
Told with exquisite grace and intelligence, The Essex Serpent masterfully explores questions of science and religion, skepticism and faith, but it is most of all a celebration of love, and the many different—and surprising—guises it can take.
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“Narrator Juanita McMahon expertly inhabits its sharp-tongued, sweet-spirited, stoic, wondrous characters. Her vocal characterizations are gothically charming. She virtually becomes imperious Cora Seaborne, questioning Reverend Ransome, and crabby old-man Cracknell. Her voice enlarges the book’s legends and mythical tales. Painting pictures with her intonations, McMahon makes clear distinctions between the numerous characters who shape Perry’s second novel. A superb narration! Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
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“Juanita McMahon brilliantly animates Sarah Perry’s characters in her narration…Listeners hear newly widowed Cora Seaborne flourish in strength; sense the wonder of her strange son, Francis; and feel Cracknell the fisherman spit and sputter…Martha, Cora’s saucy friend and nanny, provides a touch of comedy to this late 19th-century English tale. McMahon gives them each her full attention, creating a wholly formed listening experience.”
— Library Journal (audio review) -
“At once numinous, intimate, and wise, The Essex Serpent is a marvelous novel about the workings of life, love, and belief.”
— Helen MacDonald, New York Times bestselling author -
“Perry weaves modern day themes of a woman’s role and desire for independence into a tale that flows like the water where the monster resides.”
— RT Book Reviews (4 stars) -
“Lush and fantastical, a wild Eden behind a garden gate…it’s part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable.”
— New York Times -
“Triumphs on every level, whether in its rich, evocative prose or its authentic Victorian detail, its credible, multifaceted characters or its high-stakes drama…Mesmerizing.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“A dazzling and intellectually nimble work of Gothic fiction.”
— San Francisco Gate -
“Dickensian in scope, depth, and exquisite use of language… At once love story and mystery, deeply penetrating layered characters with wit and grace.”
— Historical Novels Review -
“Exercise caution approaching this literary garden pavilion…You just may find yourself unable to leave.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“The sumptuous twists and turns of Perry’s prose invite close reading…A work of astonishing breadth and brilliance.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“The vivid, often frightening imagery…and the lush descriptions…create a magical background for the sensual love story between Sarah and Will.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Excellent…Another period literary pastiche with a contemporary overlay. Cora makes for a fiercely independent heroine around whom all the other characters orbit.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A work of great intelligence and charm, by a hugely talented author.”
— Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith
Awards
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Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys’ Women’s Prize for Fiction
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AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
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Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Book Award
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Finalist for the Library Journal Best Audiobook Listen List
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A 2017 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
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Winner of the British Book Award for Fiction and for Overall Book of the Year
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A People Pick of the Week
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About Sarah Perry
Sarah Perry is an author whose first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Folio Prize. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia University, where she served as publisher of Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art and was a member of the journal’s nonfiction editorial board. She is the recipient of a Writers’ Fellowship from the Edward F. Albee Foundation and a Javits Fellowship from the US Department of Education and has attended residencies at Norton Island in Maine and PLAYA in Oregon.
About Juanita McMahon
Juanita McMahon is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and a professionally trained actress with experience in theater, television, and film productions, including the critically acclaimed Control, which won the BIFA Best British Film Award.