Instantly I experienced one of those vanishingly rare moments of inspiration which electrify the mind: what if it came back after Darwin? What if a London woman went looking for it – what if, down in Essex, there was a man of God more rational than the woman of science? Within 45 minutes I had all my major players and a good deal of the plot, and a feeling of quiet, if daunted, certainty.Įarly in 2014 the book seemed as complete and familiar as one I’d read several times, and I could recite the opening. “Ah,” said my husband: “The Essex serpent”, and discovering I was ignorant recounted the 17th century legend of a mysterious beast menacing the surrounding area. I had no idea what my next book would be, until one afternoon, driving through the Essex countryside, I saw a sign to Henham village. I was 33, cheerfully impecunious, working as a copywriter and awaiting publication of my debut. Novelists famously bristle when asked where they get their ideas, but it’s a sensible question. Still: like a sundial, I only count the happy hours, and disregard this evidence. I’ve been assured that in fact I complained bitterly throughout and emerged, visibly unwell, clutching a manuscript I declared unpublishable.
I like to recall this as a period of effortless endeavour distinguished by ecstatic imaginative flights. When Cora Seaborne's brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was an unhappy one, and she never suited the role of society wife.I wrote the first draft between January and November 2014. I found it so transporting that 48 hours after completing it, I was still resentful to be back home. SOON TO BE AN APPLE TV SERIES STARRING CLAIRE DANES AND TOM HIDDLESTONA Kirkus Review Best Book of 2017 * A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction * Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year * Waterstones Book of the Year * Costa Book Award FinalistA novel of almost insolent ambition-lush and fantastical, a wild Eden behind a garden 's part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable.
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