Norwich author Sarah Perry wins big at British Book Awards with The Essex Serpent

Norwich-based writer Sarah Perry has won yet another accolade for her second novel, The Essex Serpent.

The Waterstones Winter Edition of The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry published by Serpent's Tail, which has won Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Photo supplied by Serpent's Tail. - Credit: Serpent's Tail

The Gothic novel which was previously named Waterstones Book of the Year in 2016 and nominated for the 2016 Costa Book Awards, has now taken the British Book Awards by storm.

Published by Serpent's Tail, The Essex Serpent was crowned Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the awards ceremony on Monday evening, beating off strong competition from 36 shortlisted titles, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The Muse by Jessie Burton.

MORE: Norwich author Sarah Perry shortlisted for prestigious international awardSet in the 1890s, Perry's novel follows widow Cora Seaborne as she discovers her small village in Essex is being terrorised by a mythical beast.

Dr Perry, who was 'utterly delighted' to have won, said: 'I never really imagined it would have this kind of success. Of course you can daydream, but the reality is that many, many wonderful books are published every year and this sort of success is very rare.

'It feels wonderful to see the efforts of the entire time recognised. It takes such a lot of love and dedication from a whole team to make a book from a relative unknown rival the giants like J.K. Rowling - everything from the initial edit to the cover design and the marketing strategy created a kind of perfect storm for the book, I think.'

For more information on Sarah Perry's work, visit sarahperry.net