She does not mourn his passing but instead removes herself from London and relocates to Aldwinter on the Essex coast with her autistic son and his nanny, where she hopes to indulge her interest in fossils. Cora Seaborne has a lively, ‘masculine’ mind and has just escaped the oppression of a difficult marriage following the death of her husband. It is the 1890s and London is alive with talk of scientific discover, particularly fossils and their excavation children dream of digging up ancient remains and over dinner polite society discusses the latest developments that contemporary science unearths. So what of the story that lies inside Peter Dyer’s gorgeously designed cover? Of course, prominence is less an indicator of merit and more of financial backing these days. It is hardly possible to walk into a Waterstones without tripping over several tables laden with this beautifully designed volume. If you are a book buyer of any description, it cannot have escaped your notice that Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent (2016) is currently toast of the town and being pushed extremely hard by its publisher (or at least, it was when I started this review!).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |