Sarah Perry

One summer's day, John Cole decides to leave his life behind. He shuts up his bookshop and drives out of London. When his car breaks down and he becomes lost on an isolated road, he stumbles into the grounds of a grand but dilapidated house. Its residents welcome him with open arms, and claim to have been waiting for him all along...

London 1893: When Cora Seaborne and her son Francis reach Essex, rumours spread from the estuary that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist is enthralled, and sets out on its trail.