I definitely enjoyed reading The Essex Serpent, but I'm not entirely sure what I think of it.

Some of the characters were very strongly written, but some of the others I kept mixing up, as if the personalities weren't quite distinct enough to be separate in my mind. I'm not sure whether that's a flaw in the book, or in my concentration.

I liked the way Perry wove the various threads of the various subplots together, and the way she showed the various relationships - marriages, romantic relationships, friendships, parent and child relationships - all interacting. I thought the holding-in-tension of the scientific and religious threads was well done, and I liked the way the spectre of the serpent was used. I'm not sure what I think of the ending: I both want and don't-want to see how things work out in the longer term, although I do think the author stopped at a good stopping place (if that makes sense.)

I think my verdict is: not by any means perfect, but worth reading and pondering. But I am still pondering.