It kind of seems as though 2019 might be the year of literary fiction for me? I'm actually reading books that have been brought out ~fairly~ recently (aka in the past five years) and they are real adult lit fic? Am I alright?
For real though, this is a genre I've largely steered clear of in the past just because other ones interest me more. Now that I've got my teeth sunk in a little though there are SO MANY that I want to pick up and give a go.
The novel kicks off with a mysterious death of a man, which is later attributed to be caused by a mythological beast named the Essex Serpent. The main story then starts with the death of Cora Seaborne's abusive husband. Set in 1893, Cora lives in a time where she couldn't leave this man, and inwardly rejoices that he's lost his hold over her.
Desperate to leave her boring, restrictive life behind, Cora takes her son Frances and his governess to Essex, to be a little removed from the hustle of London life. She is an inquisitive woman, who places reason and science before religion. When a couple of friends suggest that she stay with a priest and his wife and children so that she can find out more about this Essex Serpent, Cora is a little apprehensive, but decides to go for it.
The book questions the boundaries between fact and fiction, faith and science, and where the boundaries lie between morality and immorality. Cora's own sense of what is right is put in jeopardy by her desires, and she loses sight of the strange behaviour of Frances. On the surface, he's a naughty little boy who won't do what he's told, but deep down he's a little troubled, and much more interesting than at first glance.
I've given this a 3/5 stars, because although it's a very good imitation of a Victorian novel (my fave), and at times I felt as though I could be reading an Austen novel, there were some jarring anachronisms that totally took me out of the world of the book and made me remember that it is a modern novel.
I did love the questioning of where the boundaries lie between being masculine and feminine, and I felt this was a real strength. However, the plot was spread very thinly throughout the book. I feel as though it might have worked a little better being 50 or so pages shorter, but I can see that the level of detail was part of the aura of it being a Victorian-esque novel.
I've heard so many people rave about this, and maybe if I'd gone in without this idea in mind it might have come across a little better!
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