The Essex Serpent

In 1893, recently widowed Cora Seaborne flees London and an unhappy marriage for the Essex village of Aldwinter, where a local legend has stirred back to life. The Essex Serpent, a mythical sea creature, is said to have returned to the marshes, and Cora, an amateur naturalist who longs for a real discovery, is drawn to the rumor. So is the village vicar, William Ransome, who sees the panic as a threat to his congregation's faith. Across a single year, Cora and Will argue over reason and belief, science and the divine, and their clashing minds pull them steadily toward one another, even as the question of what truly lurks in the water remains unsettled.