Sarah Perry’s gothic ‘novel of rare intelligence’ receives lucrative honour ahead of the playscript for JK Rowling’s theatrical debut
A book born from sudden inspiration on a journey, akin to the grand plan for a story about wizards that first seized JK Rowling on a train to London, has beaten the Harry Potter author to win the lucrative Waterstones book of the year. The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry’s acclaimed gothic tale of a mythological beast terrorising a Victorian community, beat Rowling’s script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and was the “overwhelming choice” of the chain’s booksellers.
A novel of passion, ideas and friendship, Perry’s novel saw off an eclectic shortlist that also included Christopher de Hamel’s Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts, Emma Jane Kirby’s The Optician of Lampedusa and Beatrix Potter’s newly discovered The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots, illustrated by Quentin Blake.
Related: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry review – a compulsive novel of ideas
Related: The Essex Serpent author Sarah Perry: ‘Kids at school found me strange. I didn’t mind’
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