“The Snake of Essex”: Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston will star in Sarah Perry's best-selling novel

Apple TV+ is about to release the series “The Essex Serpent”, inspired by the novel of the same name, and the best-selling, by Sarah Perry, who, after returning to Gothic literature, has become “the revelation of the year” for its publisher, Siruela.

This audiovisual production will capture the life of Cora Seaborne, who, as a widow, of a cruel and abusive man, finds the freedom to develop her passion for paleontology and more scientific naturalism, which is why she decides to move from Victorian London to the County of Essex, accompanied by her son Francis and Martha, the young babysitter.

When they arrive in the town of Colchester, the mystery begins, because at the same time that the particular woman appears in the village, rumors about a mythical snake begin to spread among the locals, for whom a threat is looming, which could end the life of everyone who walks around.

Luke Garret, a doctor of modern ideas, a friend of Cora's husband, who is deeply in love with her, introduces her to Reverend William Ransome, bringing religion, science, love and supestitions together in history, unleashing a terrifying outcome.

The supposed appearance of the serpent will confront everyone in the village and part of the congregation with the widow, whom they accuse of drawing the curse because of her relationship with the vicar. “Cora and William begin a relationship as intense as it is unsettling, as quiet and deep as it is disloyal... The separation between them seems inevitable.”

This novel by Sarah Perry, included in a genre that some critics call neo-Victorian, not only shows the different forms that love can take, but some compare it to novels by classic authors such as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins or Hilary Mantel, highlighting that Perry moves between the past and the contemporary world, recounting modern stories framed in the time of the unforgettable Queen Victoria.

“If Dickens and the author of Dracula had joined forces to write the great Victorian novel,” they would not have been able to overcome it,” said the Scottish poet John Burnside. The intensity of Sara Perry's work is such that many argue that the widow Cora Seaborne is on the same level as well-known female characters such as Jane Eyre or Catherine Earnshaw, from “Wuthering Heights”.

The Serpent of Essex includes debates on topics such as religion, advances in medicine and science, which were driven and followed by the leading newspapers of the 19th century “If Dickens and the author of Dracula would have come together to write the great Victorian novel” they would not have been able to overcome it.

The love and independence of women are also points highlighted by the author in which she corrupts in time and in the space itself of the stages and the different landscapes of which make her suitable for the adaptation that Apple TV+ will perform.

The book adaptation, by Anna Symon (” Deep Water”), will be directed by Clio Barnard (” Ali & Ava”) and features a stellar cast, headed by Emmy Award winner and SAG Claire Danes, as Cora Seaborne; Emmy nominee Tom Hiddleston (” Loki”), as the Vicar of the People, as well as other participations: Frank Dillane, Clémence Poésy and Hayley Squires.

The series will have six chapters and will be released, worldwide, on Friday, May 13, 2022 with the first two chapters. It will be directed by BAFTA nominee Clio Barnard and written by BAFTA nominee Anna Symon.

Who is Sarah Perry?

The writer was born in Essex County in 1979, in the town of Chelmsford, she has a PhD in Creative Writing from the Royal Holloway. His first book was “After me comes the flood” and his second novel is La serpeinte de Essex, which remained in the “top ten” as the best-selling fiction book, for 46 weeks.

She has received several awards: Winner of the British Book Award 2016, Book of the Year by the Waterstones bookstore chain, Number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list, Dylan Thomas Prize finalist among others.

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