A small and elite(!) group gathered for our Book Club meeting at Joan’s house, to review The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, to choose the next two months' books and enjoy a Mediterranean-style meal together. It was a great evening and we couldn’t believe how the time flew, it was 11pm before we said our goodbyes.
Not everyone had finished The Essex Serpent, but interesting discussion took place on it, and although Jeanette thought she may not bother to read it she had changed her mind by the end of the review. All agreed the Victorian writing style took a while to get used to, but once they did the readers enjoyed well-developed memorable characters, and excellent descriptive writing, conjuring up the smell and mud of the Essex marshes.
The story revolved around a mythical beast The Essex Serpent, and the rumours and superstition of the parishioners of Aldwinter; rather than an actual beast, it was felt this could have been a metaphor for the characters' own demons and that they were looking for answers to their own particular problems. The book is described as a romance, and there is a love interest, but we felt it was more a book about friendship. Those who actually finished the book were very happy with the conclusion and gave it a score of 4.
As a number of our group are finding it difficult some months to get a hard copy of the chosen book, it has been decided to choose the books for reading a month in advance. This month we made two choices. Jeanette brought a selection of books for us to select the June book and Joanne did a list online for the July choice.
This Book Will Save Your Life by AM Homes - June
I Found You by Lisa Jewell - July
The next meeting will be on Thursday 6th July 2017, venue TBC
