British novelist Sarah Perry released her debut novel After Me Comes the Flood to critical acclaim in 2014, but it's her second novel The Essex Serpent, released June 2, that really pushed her name into the public eye.

The book, one of the most talked about novels of 2016 and adored by critics, booksellers and readers alike, is set in 1893 and follows widow Cora Seaborne after she moves to Colchester and sets out on the trail of the fabled Essex Serpent. Perry has been praised by Tipping The Velvet author Sarah Waters as 'hugely talented', and described by The Miniaturist novelist Jessie Burton as 'an author who understands life'. After the success of The Essex Serpent, Perry is surely destined for great things.