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THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS THE SPEAKER IS UNABLE TO ATTEND DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Novelist Sarah Perry talks about her Costa-shortlisted historical novel of love and intrigue, The Essex Serpent.

The novel is set in 1893 and follows widow Cora Seaborne as she leaves London for Essex with her curious and obsessive son Francis. They hear rumours of the mythical Essex Serpent said to roam the marshes. Cora is a keen naturalist and sets out to dispel the myth. She meets William Ransome, a local vicar who sees the rumours as a distraction to the true faith, and the two strike up an intense relationship.

Perry was born in Essex. Her first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Folio Prize, and won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award. Here she talks to novelist and critic Hannah Beckerman, author of The Dead Wife’s Handbook.

This event is part of the festival’s women in society series sponsored by HSBC.