The Essex Serpent 

　　當蛇怪再度現身，最終能夠解救他們的，是科學的求證，還是信仰的力量？

　　Cora Seaborne剛剛成為寡婦，結束了一段並不幸福的婚姻，帶著她好奇的兒子Francis和女僕Martha，一同前往艾塞克斯(Essex)。她渴望新鮮的空氣，和一個可以逃離緊身胸衣以及所有社會枷鎖的地方。

　　當他們落腳於艾塞克斯郡的科爾切斯特(Colchester)，在那裡，他們聽到了那個傳聞──曾盤踞在沼澤地帶、取走人命的蛇怪，回到了Aldwinter的沿海教區。消失的羊、不明所以襲來的黑暗、水面令人起疑的漣漪，逐漸使當地居民陷入恐慌。當一名溺死的男子被發現，他們開始懷疑這是一場審判，蛇怪為何又回來了？他們是否做錯了什麼？

　　身為一個無信仰的業餘博物學家，Cora直覺認為居民口中神祕的蛇怪，很可能是一種尚未被發現的物種。當她動身尋找怪物的蹤跡時，認識了Aldwinter的已婚牧師William Ransome。Will同樣質疑傳聞的正確性，但他認為這些謠傳是來自道德上的恐慌，唯有加強信仰帶來的安定感，人才不會製造怪物。即使在破除傳聞的這件事上並沒有一致的看法，Cora的自由與Will的虔誠也看似處處對立，他們仍然發現自己深受對方吸引，雙雙陷入這段感情之中，這使得兩人的人生有了無法預料的改變。

　　Sarah Perry的第二本小說，背景設在1890年代的艾塞克斯，參考了17世紀時當地出現水怪的神秘傳說，以及惡名昭彰的艾塞克斯女巫審判，作者在這部小說中出色地呈現出維多利亞時代晚期，在面對未知的恐懼下，神學及科學的爭辯，並描繪出在愛之中生出的恐懼、痛楚及美麗。

　　一部豐富、優雅、令人屏息的小說，絕對是今年度文壇最受矚目的傑作之一。(文/博客來編譯)

　　THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
　　Overall Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the 　　British Book Awards 2017 (Nibbies)
　　Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
　　The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016
　　Shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award

　　London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. 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.

　　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. 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. As 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.

　　As 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.

　　The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.

作者簡介

　　Sarah Perry was born in Essex in 1979. She has a PhD in creative writing from Royal Holloway, and has been the writer in residence at the Gladstone Library and the UNESCO World City of Literature Writer in Residence in Prague. Her first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Folio Prize, and won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2014. She lives in Norwich.