The book delivers on that front, in spades! The folklore is exquisitely utilized in this crackling good tale of horror and suspense. The main draw for me was the advertised Gothic tone. I have not read ‘The Essex Serpent’ so I had no preset expectations for this book. Melmoth by Sarah Perry is a 2018 Serpent’s Tale publication.

As her past finally catches up with her, she too must choose which path to take.Įxquisitely written, and gripping until the very last page, this is a masterpiece of moral complexity, asking us profound questions about mercy, redemption, and how to make the best of our conflicted world.

Despite her scepticism, Helen can't stop reading, or shake the feeling that someone or something is watching her. Condemned to walk the Earth forever, she tries to beguile the guilty and lure them away for a lifetime wandering alongside her.Įveryone that Melmoth seeks out must make a choice: to live with what they've done, or be lead into the darkness. It is filled with testimonies from the darkest chapters of human history, which all record sightings of a tall, silent woman in black, with unblinking eyes and bleeding feet: Melmoth, the loneliest being in the world. But the sheltered life she has crafted for herself is about to change.Ī strange manuscript has come into her possession, and its contents have the power to unravel every strand of her fragile safety net.

Twenty years ago Helen Franklin did something she cannot forgive herself for, and she has spent every day since barricading herself against its memory.

Melmoth the witness