The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

 

Having read reviews, this book seems a little like marmite - you love it or you don't - I am in the later!  
This book had the feeling of a Charles Dickens novel in some ways; the strange pacing, the somewhat caricatured characters and the atmosphere were reminiscent of The Old Curiosity Shop for me. I loved her detail of Victorian life - the social issues, descriptions of early medical advance.
The Essex backdrop was brilliantly written though, and I loved the imagery and Perry's descriptive style. I also thought that the letters the characters exchange throughout the novel were nicely done. 
I liked all the symbolism - the serpent itself, possibly a multi faceted metaphor, representing at different times superstition, the general darkness of human nature, self doubt and destructiveness, the threat of adultery to a happy marriage, and indeed there could be a reading of the book in which Cora is the Essex Serpent.
However, I didn't really warm to the characters and at times I felt the book dragged!