Nearer he goes to the water, and puts out his tongue to the briny air: Yes - I’ll go for a dip, he thinks, dropping his coat on the marsh.

He unbuttons his coat, he holds it open, but it’s not enough: he wants to feel the wind’s edge strop itself sharp on his skin. “ I’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,” he sings in his sweet chapel tenor, then laughs, and someone laughs back. I’ll go for a dip, he thinks, that’ll shake me loose and coming down from the path stands alone on the shore, where deep in the dark mud all the creeks wait for the tide.

The collar rasps at the nape of his neck: he feels fuddled and constricted and his tongue is dry. It’s cold, and he ought to feel it, but he’s full of beer and he’s got on his good thick coat. “I’ll just go down to the water,” he said, and kissed the nearest cheek: “I’ll be back before the chimes.” Now he looks east to the turning tide, out to the estuary slow and dark, and the white gulls gleaming on the waves.

He’s been drinking the old year down to the dregs, until his eyes grew sore and his stomach turned, and he was tired of the bright lights and bustle. The Essex Serpent is a thrilling and unforgettable novel of intrigue, love, and the many forms it can take.Ī modern classic perfect for fans of Jessie Burton, Sarah Waters and Stacey Halls, THE ESSEX SERPENT is now a major Apple TV series starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston.A young man walks down by the banks of the Blackwater under the full cold moon. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species.Īs she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith.Īs he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness.

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