Sarah Perry

The debut novel by the bestselling author of THE ESSEX SERPENTOne hot summers day, John Cole decides to leave his life behind.He shuts up the bookshop no one ever comes to and drives out of London. When his car breaks down and he becomes lost on an isolated road, he goes looking for help, and stumbles into the grounds of a grand but dilapidated house.Its residents welcome him with open arms - but theres more to this strange community than meets the eye. They all know him by name, theyve prepared a room for him, and claim to have been waiting for him all along.Who are these people? And what do they intend for John?Elegant, gently sinister and psychologically complex, After Me Comes the Flood is the haunting debut novel by the author of The Essex Serpent.

The Sunday Times bestseller 'One of the most memorable historical novels of the past decade' - Sunday Times Let THE ESSEX SERPENT wrap itself around you this summer London 1893. When Cora Seaborne's husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one, and she never suited the role of society wife. Accompanied by her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, where she hopes fresh air and open space will provide the refuge they need. When they take lodgings in Colchester, rumours reach them from further up the estuary that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming human lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for religion or superstition, is immediately enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a previously undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar. Like Cora, Will is deeply suspicious of the rumours, but he thinks they are founded on moral panic, a flight from real faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, he and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves inexorably drawn together and torn apart, eventually changing each other's lives in ways entirely unexpected. Told with exquisite grace and intelligence, this novel is most of all a celebration of love, and the many different guises it can take.

Cora Seaborne, jeune veuve férue de paléontologie, quitte Londres en compagnie de son fils Francis et de sa nourrice Martha pour s’installer à Aldwinter, dans l’Essex, où elle se lie avec le pasteur

A sweeping multi generational tale blending fable farce and fantasy

Hugely readable and profoundly important ... Perry's masterly piece of postmodern gothic is one of the great achievements of our century' The Observer SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE OB

La nueva novela de la autora de La serpiente de EssexUno de los libros del año para: The Telegraph, The Washington Post y The New Yorker,nominado al Premio Booker.Thomas Hart y Grace Macaulay han vivido toda su vida en el pequeño pueblo de Aldleigh, en Essex. Les separan tres decadas, pero es mucho mas lo que los une: ambos son curiosos, impulsivos y se encuentran divididos entre su compromiso con la religion baptista y su deseo de explorar el mundo mas alla de su comunidad. Pero el comienzo de dos relaciones romanticas viene a cuestionar sus vinculos. Thomas encuentra consuelo estudiando el cielo nocturno y se obsesiona con una astronoma desaparecida del siglo XIX, mientras que Grace se marcha a Londres. En el transcurso de los siguiente veinte años, a medida que se preguntan que es mutable y que no lo es, y hasta que punto nuestro futuro esta ya escrito en las estrellas, ambos veran como sus vidas vuelven a ponerse en orbita. Y puede que, tal vez, la respuesta a estas cuestiones encierre tambien el camino para volverse a encontrar y reconciliarse. La nueva obra de la autora de La serpiente de Essex es una inolvidable historia de amor y amistad, una novela cautivadora y rica en simbolismo sobre los misterios que habitan la tierra y los cielos. Leanlo y despues vuelvanlo a leer. Pues este libro esta repleto de insospechadas maravillas.Literary ReviewLa estela es una sublime y barroca novela de ideas, fantasmas e historias ocultas.The Telegraph

GANADORA DEL BRITISH BOOK AWARD 2016 Señalada como libro del año por la cadena de librerías Waterstones y número uno en la lista de libros más vendidos del Sunday Times, La serpiente de Essex tambien fue finalista del Costa Award 2016 y seleccionada para los premios Wellcome Book y el Baileys 2017.Una fantastica muestra de literatura gotica contemporanea: en la epoca de los grandes descubrimientos cientificos, un leviatan alado aterroriza a un pequeño pueblo ingles.Ambientada en Londres y en un pueblo de Essex en la decada de 1890 e inspirada por los debates de los descubrimientos medicos y cientificos de la epoca, La serpiente de Essex es en esencia la historia de dos personas extraordinarias que se enamoran de una forma poco corriente.Cuando el marido de Cora Seaborne fallece, esta comienza su nueva vida con tanta tristeza como alivio: su matrimonio no era feliz y nunca encajo en el papel de esposa perfecta. Acompañada por su hijo Francis, deja Londres y se traslada a Essex, donde espera que los espacios abiertos les proporcionen el refugio que necesitan. Alli escuchan rumores de mas alla del estuario que aseguran que la mitica serpiente de Essex, que segun dicen vagaba en el pasado por los pantanos reclamando vidas humanas, ha vuelto a la parroquia costera de Aldwinter. Cora, una naturalista aficionada, esta segura de que la bestia puede ser una especie desconocida. En sus pesquisas se topa con William Ransome, el vicario local. Will contempla la inquietud de sus parroquianos desde un punto de vista moral, como una desviacion de la fe verdadera. Y aunque Cora y Will no estan de acuerdo en nada, segun pasa el tiempo ambos se ven inexorablemente empujados el uno hacia el otro.Si Dickens y el autor de Dracula se hubieran unido para escribir la gran novela victoriana, me pregunto si hubieran superado La serpiente de Essex.JOHN BURNSIDEUna novela deliciosa, cautivadora y muy inteligente, escrita por una autora de enorme talento. SARAH WATERSA la vez intima e intrigante, una maravillosa historia de secretos, misterios y de los complejos e inesperados giros del corazon humano. HELEN MACDONALD

'Please read this book. It may very well change how you live' Rachel Clarke'I was spellbound' Kathryn MannixDeath of an Ordinary Man is an unforgettable account of this universal aspect of life. It is not a book about grief: it is a book about dying, and it is a book about family, and care and love.Sarah Perry's father-in-law David died in the autumn of 2022, only nine days after a cancer diagnosis. Until then he'd been a healthy and happy man: he loved stamp collecting, fish and chips, comic novels, his local church, and the Antiques Roadshow. He was in some ways a very ordinary man, but as he began to die, it became clear how extraordinary he was.Sarah and her husband Robert nursed David themselves at home, eventually with the help of carers and visiting nurses. They bathed and cleaned and dressed him, comforted him in pain, sat with him through waking and sleeping, talked to him, sang to him, prayed with him. Day by day and hour by hour, they witnessed what happens to the body and spirit as death approaches and finally arrives.'By the end I was left shaken, deeply moved' Christos Tsiolkas'This book will be a lifeline for so many people' Sean Hewitt'To read this book is a privilege, a gift on the craft of dying' Amy Key

Cora Seaborne, jeune veuve férue de paléontologie, quitte Londres en compagnie de son fils Francis et de sa nourrice Martha pour s’installer à Aldwinter, dans l’Essex, où elle se lie avec le pasteur

Unlikely best friends Thomas and Grace are bound together by questions of faith, love and astronomy in this dazzling summer read from the #1 bestselling author.READERS HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH ENLIGHTENMENT: Vibrates with wonderI absolutely loved itFull of magicExquisitestrange and wonderful and unpredictableThis book tore my heart apart then put it back together againThomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits torn between their religion and their desire to explore the world. But their friendship is ruptured by the arrival of love.Over the course of twenty years, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as a devastating story of passion and scientific adventure unfolds and Aldleighs unique mysteries are revealed.Its glorious A beautiful, memorable novel OBSERVERSarah Perry just gets better and betterINDEPENDENTAbsorbing A romance worthy of Emily BronteWALL STREET JOURNALGorgeousethereal GUARDIANSarah Perry creates worlds to disappear into Beautiful, vivid BBC*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024* *A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE GUARDIAN, DAILY TELEGRAPH AND DAILY MAIL*

Like A.S. Byatts Possession, Enlightenment is a baroque, genre-bending novel of ideas, ghosts and hidden histories. A richly layered epic....a heartfelt paean to the consolations of the sublime, where religion and science meet." -- Telegraph"Read it, then read it again. This is a book full of unexpected wonders." -- Literary ReviewFrom the author of The Essex Serpent, a dazzling novel of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spiritstorn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community.It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.

La nueva novela de la autora de La serpiente de EssexUno de los libros del año para: The Telegraph, The Washington Post y The New Yorker,nominado al Premio Booker.Thomas Hart y Grace Macaulay han vivido toda su vida en el pequeño pueblo de Aldleigh, en Essex. Les separan tres decadas, pero es mucho mas lo que los une: ambos son curiosos, impulsivos y se encuentran divididos entre su compromiso con la religion baptista y su deseo de explorar el mundo mas alla de su comunidad. Pero el comienzo de dos relaciones romanticas viene a cuestionar sus vinculos. Thomas encuentra consuelo estudiando el cielo nocturno y se obsesiona con una astronoma desaparecida del siglo XIX, mientras que Grace se marcha a Londres. En el transcurso de los siguiente veinte años, a medida que se preguntan que es mutable y que no lo es, y hasta que punto nuestro futuro esta ya escrito en las estrellas, ambos veran como sus vidas vuelven a ponerse en orbita. Y puede que, tal vez, la respuesta a estas cuestiones encierre tambien el camino para volverse a encontrar y reconciliarse. La nueva obra de la autora de La serpiente de Essex es una inolvidable historia de amor y amistad, una novela cautivadora y rica en simbolismo sobre los misterios que habitan la tierra y los cielos. Leanlo y despues vuelvanlo a leer. Pues este libro esta repleto de insospechadas maravillas.Literary ReviewLa estela es una sublime y barroca novela de ideas, fantasmas e historias ocultas.The Telegraph

Named a Best Book of the Year by Scientific AmericanA fun, sophisticated illustrated collection of essays that catalogs the simple and not so simple pleasures of the eclectic world of candy from the award-winning author of After the Eclipse. With illustrations by Forsyth Harmon.A taxonomy of sweetness, a rhapsody of artificial flavors, and a multi-faceted theory of pleasure, Sweet Nothings is made up of one hundred illustrated micro essays organized by candy color, from the red of Pop Rocks to the purple Jelly Bonbon in the Whitmans Sampler. Each entry is a meditation on taste and texture, a memory unlocked. Everyones favoritesand least favoritesare carefully considered, including Snickers and Trader Joes Peanut Butter Cups, as well as the beloved Good n Plenty and Werthers Originals.An expert guide and exquisite writer, Sarah Perry asks such pressing questions as: Twizzlers or Red Vines? Why are Mentos eaters so maniacally happy? And in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, how could Edmund sell out his siblings for, of all things, Turkish delight? She rejects the dreaded What is your favorite candy? question and counters: Under what circumstances? F The question itself is flawedfavorite under what circumstances? In what weather? On the road, or at home? In what mood? For candy is inextricably tied to the seasons of our lives. Sweet Nothings moves associatively, touching on pop culture, art, culinary history, philosophy, body image, and class-based food moralism. It challenges the very idea of junk food and posits taking pleasure seriously as a means of survival.Sarah Perrys pure love of candy weaves together elegiac glimpses of her 90s childhoodand the loss at its centerwith stories of love and desire. Surprisingly smart and frequently funny, Sweet Nothings is a tart and sweet ode to finding small joys where you can. Yes, even in black licorice.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Telegraph, Washington Post, The New Yorker. LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE. Like A.S. Byatts Possession, Enlightenment is a baroque, genre-bending novel of ideas, ghosts and hidden histories. A richly layered epic....a heartfelt paean to the consolations of the sublime, where religion and science meet." Telegraph"Read it, then read it again. This is a book full of unexpected wonders." Literary ReviewFrom the author of The Essex Serpent, a dazzling and character-driven novel of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spiritstorn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community.It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a historical mystery surrounding a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating literary fiction tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.A thrillingly ambitious philosophical novel of friendship, faith, and unrequited love, rich in symmetry and symbolism, Enlightenment is a shimmering wonder of a book and Sarah Perrys finest work to date.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Essex Serpentsoon to be an Apple TV+ SeriesA beautiful, dream-like, unsettling narrative in which every word, like a small jewel, feels carefully chosen, considered and placed. Rarely do debut novels come as assured and impressive as this one.Sarah Waters, New York Times bestselling author of The Paying GuestsElegant, sinister and psychologically complex, After Me Comes the Flood is the haunting debut novel by Sarah Perry, the bestselling author of The Essex Serpent and Melmoth.One hot summers day, John Cole decides to shut his bookshop early, and possibly forever, and drives out of London to see his brother. When his car breaks down on an isolated road, he goes looking for help and finds a dilapidated house. As he approaches, a laughing woman hes never seen before walks out, addresses him by name and explains shes been waiting for him. Entering the home, John discovers an enigmatic clan of residents all of whom seem to know who he is, and also claim they have been awaiting his arrival. They seem to be waiting for something else, toosomething final....Written before Sarah Perrys ascension to an internationally bestselling author, After Me Comes the Flood is a spectacular novel of obsession, conviction, and providence.

NOW AN APPLE TV+ SERIESA Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction * Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year *A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of The Year * Waterstones Book of the Year * Costa Book Award FinalistA novel of almost insolent ambitionlush and fantastical, a wild Eden behind a garden gate...its part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable. I found it so transporting that 48 hours after completing it, I was still resentful to be back home. New York TimesLondon, 1893. In this compelling work of historical fiction, Cora Seabornes brilliant, domineering husband dies, and 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. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space, she leaves the metropolis for coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive eleven-year-old son, Francis, and the boys nanny, Martha, her fiercely protective friend. Once there, they hear rumors that after nearly three hundred years, the mythical Essex Serpent, a fearsome creature central to this atmospheric gothic novel, has returned. When a young man is mysteriously killed on New Years Eve, the communitys dread transforms to terror. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for religion or superstition, is immediately enthralled, certain that what locals think is a magical sea beast may be a previously undiscovered species. Eager to investigate, she is introduced to parish vicar William Ransome, who is equally suspicious of the rumors but for different reasons: a man of faith, he is convinced the alarming reports are caused by moral panic, a flight from the correct and righteous path. As Cora and William attempt to discover the truth about the Essex Serpents existence, these seeming opposites find themselves inexorably drawn together in an intense relationship that will change both of them in ways entirely unexpected. And as they search for answers, Coras London past follows her to the coast, with striking consequences. Told with exquisite grace and intelligence, The Essex Serpent masterfully explores questions of science and religion, skepticism and faith, but it is most of all a celebration of love, and the many differentand surprisingguises it can take.

Ocho destacados escritores contemporáneos reinterpretan las clásicas historias de fantasmas en esta inquietante colección de relatos ambientados en las localizaciones más misteriosas de las islas britanicas.Inglaterra es por excelencia la tierra de las apariciones y los lugares encantados. Para este libro, ocho prominentes novelistas britanicos tuvieron la oportunidad de elegir un edificio perteneciente al English Heritage ;una institucion publica que protege y promueve el patrimonio historico ingles; y permanecer en el despues del horario de visita habitual. Inmersos en la historia, la atmosfera y lasleyendas sobre esos emplazamientos, canalizaron la parte mas oscura de su fantasia para crear las extraordinarias historias de fantasmas contemporaneas recogidas en este volumen. La mansion jacobea de Audley, el fuerte romano de Housesteads, los castillos de Dover, Kenilworth, Pendennis y Carlisle, el palacio de Eltham y un bunker de la Guerra Fria situado en York. Entre los muros de estos famosos lugares encantados, cada autor encontro la inspiracion necesaria para reinterpretar a su manera las clasicas ghost stories, que llevan aterrorizando desde hace generaciones a cuantos lectores se acercan a ellas.

GANADORA DEL BRITISH BOOK AWARD 2016 Señalada como libro del año por la cadena de librerías Waterstones y nºmero uno en la lista de libros más vendidos del Sunday Times, La serpiente de Essex tambien fue finalista del Costa Award 2016 y seleccionada para los premios Wellcome Book y el Baileys 2017.Una fantastica muestra de literatura gotica contemporanea: en la epoca de los grandes descubrimientos cientificos, un leviatan alado aterroriza a un pequeño pueblo ingles.Ambientada en Londres y en un pueblo de Essex en la decada de 1890 e inspirada por los debates de los descubrimientos medicos y cientificos de la epoca, La serpiente de Essex es en esencia la historia de dos personas extraordinarias que se enamoran de una forma poco corriente.Cuando el marido de Cora Seaborne fallece, esta comienza su nueva vida con tanta tristeza como alivio: su matrimonio no era feliz y nunca encajo en el papel de esposa perfecta. Acompañada por su hijo Francis, deja Londres y se traslada a Essex, donde espera que los espacios abiertos les proporcionen el refugio que necesitan. Alli escuchan rumores de mas alla del estuario que aseguran

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024 A story of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends Gorgeous Ethereal GUARDIAN A book with cosmic reach FINANCIAL TIMES A romance worthy of Emily Bronte WALL STREET JOURNAL A genre bending novel of ideas TELEGRAPH Sarah Perry just gets better and better INDEPENDENT Thomas and Grace are fellow worshippers at the Baptist chapel in the small Essex town of Aldleigh Though separated in age by three decades the pair are kindred spirits torn between their commitment to religion and their desire for more But their friendship is threatened by the arrival of love Thomas falls for James Bower who runs the local museum Together they develop an obsession with the vanished nineteenth century female astronomer Maria Veduva said to haunt a nearby manor Inspired by Maria and the dawning realisation James may not reciprocate his feelings Thomas finds solace studying the night skies Could astronomy offer as much wonder as divine or earthly love Meanwhile Grace meets Nathan a fellow sixth former who represents a different wilder kind of life They are drawn passionately together but quickly pulled apart casting Grace into the wider world and far away fro

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 COSTA NOVEL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 London 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both. The Essex Serpent is a celebration of love, and the many different shapes it can take.