A Kirkus Review Best Book of 2017 and a Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction. Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year, selected as the Waterstones Book of the Year, and a Costa Book Award ...

We had generally quite positive things to say about Perry's Victorian drama. Essentially, we decided that this was a novel about how people act when they are temporarily insane, whether because of complex grief (in Cora's case), consumption (for Stella), the belief in the serpent (for the whole town), or sexual desire (for basically everyone else). When we realized that so much of the novel happens within a year of Cora's husband's death, we realized the plot is really exploring how this delusions, myths, and compulsions drive characters to noble actions (Spenser's work with the poor), confusions (Will's infatuation with Cora), and destruction (the attacks on Edward and Luke). In particular, we enjoyed the way the town evolves as the myth of the serpent grows and twists their relationships. This intersected in a very interesting way with how the women in the novel defied expectations of Victorian stories -- whether that be Cora's adventurousness and interest in science, Martha's Marxism, or Stella's ownership over her illness. Cora in particular was a very interesting figure, loved by many for her individuality and then condemned by the same characters for 'leading people on' and not behaving as women are supposed to. This made her ambivalent ending particularly powerful. We weren't as much fans of the plot, and felt that a couple of the moves Perry took were too convenient. Did Will really only figure out his feelings when he and Cora touch? As touching as the friendship with Spenser and Luke, did we really need to have Luke injured to motivate their scenes? And none of bought the relationship between Martha and Edward. We're not totally sure why needed the poverty plot, maybe to show what actual issues were at the time, but Edward himself was far too much of a cipher to be a believable romantic partner. But none of this took too much away from the great writing, the interesting leads, and the elegant depiction of a moment of madness.