by Sarah Perry
Reviewed by Janet:
This novel immerses the reader in 1893, where on the Essex coast, fear of a great sea creature has fisherman and townspeople suspicious and superstitious. News of this curiosity reaches London, and brings amateur naturalist Cora Seaborne to the town of Aldwinter, with her son and her companion. As science, religion, and superstition vie with each other, Cora’s new friendship with the vicar challenges and changes them both.