The scenario involves Cora, a recently widowed
Londoner, her companion Martha and a child Francis, who, we are told, has
significant problems with behaviour. The loss of a husband is felt deeply, and
a sojourn by the sea, the Blackwater estuary in Essex being the place chosen,
is prescribed. In this small town there are people who live from the sea,
people who do rural things, and a vicar, plus his wife and some surviving
children. The place also has a secret, though apparently not so secret, myth of
a great sea creature, a sea serpent or winged dragon that appears irregularly
to wreak havoc on its victims. And it is evidence of this beast that forms the
prelude to the tale, evidence that is quietly forgotten for several chapters.
The Essex Serpent also presents aspects of
Victorian life as substance in its story. There is disease, with early death,
infant mortality and consumption, their combination making a point about the
fragility of life. There is the barbarity, by today's standards, of medical
treatment. There is violence on the streets of London and severe punishment for
those who transgress the law. There is destitution and homelessness, though
perhaps not in the direct experience of these characters, but manifest in their
enlightened attitudes towards charity. And, within these horizons,
relationships develop, characters ail, people disappear in mysterious
circumstances and, throughout, there is the expectant foreboding that the Essex
serpent casts over anything that cannot be fully explained. One is never in any
doubt, however, that everything will eventually be explained.
So where, given the start of this review, are
the problems? Let's start at the beginning. Before we meet any of the
characters, we are presented with an episode that suggests the book will be
primarily concerned with the monster the locals believe inhabits the waters of
their Essex estuary. But, given that the power of the serpent's presence is
used throughout the text more to signify a threat and create tension than make
actual appearance, then this introduction is misplaced.
Secondly, too often the characters appear only
when they are needed to drive a plot. The much-discussed behavior problems of
the boy Francis hardly seem to figure in his mother's consciousness until the
plot requires his action. Then, having exhibited no particular unpredictability
thus far, he conveniently delivers when required.
Thirdly, the letters that these characters write
to one another seem to be included as plot devices rather than as intended
communication. They do not appear, despite the different signatures, to be
written in different styles. They contain little small talk and thus do not
seem to be letters at all.
Fourth, it appears that these characters are in
fact modern people with modern sensibilities, cast in an era where they can
highlight cultural and attitudinal differences that might surprise the reader.
But the characters, themselves, hardly reflect the assumptions they would be
expected to espouse. No-one is racist,
there is no antisemitism and the poor tend to be judged deservingly. These
people remark on things about the society that, if they had contemporary
Victorian sympathies, they would hardly notice
Fifth, and possibly I am wrong here, there seem
to be some factual errors in the book. On a couple of occasions, these people,
who give such obvious import to flowers, trees, vegetation and wildlife, make
clear errors about what they have seen. At one point a character muses on
something they simply cannot have experienced, though the fault here lies in
technology, not nature. I could back up these assertions with the detail, but I
have no desire to undermine the experience of potential readers of a book with
details that some other reader might not notice or choose to ignore. For me,
personally, these obvious errors undermined the solidity of the scenario and
rendered the characters less than credible.
So for me, this was a very, very difficult read.
I did finish the book. It had some things to offer. Please read it and make up
your own mind.
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