The Essex Serpent

On the surface, this book is a beautifully deep and detailed historical novel, with all the right period details. It???s also a bit of a mystery/horror novel, with all those tiny nods to the (historical) legend of the Essex Serpent and the touches of folk horror in how the people of Aldwinter talk about it and deal with it.
But at its core, it???s all about the characters, who are all quite complex and layered in their portrayals. None of them fits into any sort of stereotype one might find of them in Victorian novels: Cora isn???t necessarily the typical widow (merry or otherwise), William isn???t the typical parson, Martha isn???t the typical lady???s companion, etc. Each character has an idea of what the other characters are like before meeting them, then another idea of what they???re like after meeting them. That idea changes throughout the course of the novel as the plot plays out - a plot that is largely driven by the way the characters interact with each other. There???s a kind of ripple effect: one character takes some kind of action (or doesn???t), and the effects of their action or inaction affects the other characters, to a greater or lesser degree. This is what makes the characters - and the novel - enjoyable to read.
This dynamic is clearest with Cora and William. Initially they have some negative ideas about what the other is like, but when they finally meet each other in person those ideas change, and become more positive. But as the novel goes on, it becomes clear that though they get along and agree on a lot of things, there???s also plenty of things they DON???T agree on - but that just makes them more interesting to each other, more enjoyable to be around. This creates an interesting push-and-pull between them, that ripples out onto the other characters. Those characters, in turn, react to that dynamic, and their reactions spark similar reactions in other characters, including Cora and William.
Of course, none of these dynamics would be interesting if the characters themselves weren???t interesting on their own. As I mentioned earlier, none of the characters are stereotypes, but some are, I think, a bit more interesting than others - largely because of how they shine a light on aspects of British Victorian history that might not always be made obvious in other media based on the time period. The most obvious example here is Martha: her socialist politics provide a refreshing contrast to the politics of the other characters, but her sapphic-coded relationship with Cora, and her more complicated, politically-slanted relationship with Spencer, also add angles and layers to her that are not always visible in media and literature about the Victorian period.
But where does this leave the Essex Serpent itself, and its story? While it???s still a presence in the novel, and is the reason why all the characters come together in the first place, it???s really more of a symbol than any kind of actual threat. In that sense it can be viewed in many different ways, but the one I lean more towards is that it is a symbol of making assumptions, and disillusionment: two things all the characters undergo, for better and for worse.
So overall, while some readers might come to this novel expecting something in the horror or gothic vein (like I did, initially), they???ll quickly come to learn that this really is a story about the characters in it, and how they interact with and react to each other, than about any supposed monster lurking in the river. While this might be disappointing to some readers who were looking for a scarier read, others might find themselves unexpectedly delighted by the novel???s character-heavy focus and the author???s wonderful prose.