Book Curious ®

The Essex Serpent     Sarah Perry        Pages: 418      Published: 2016

The book: London, 1893. Newly widowed, Cora Seaborne, decides that she and her son Francis might be better suited to life in the country than in London. So, they travel to the county of Essex.
There, she hears tales of a mythical serpent from the past that locals believe has returned to the coastal village of Aldwinter.
Cora, neither religious nor superstitious, is convinced that there is a logical explanation for the serpent; perhaps it is an undiscovered species? Intrigued, she sets out to Aldwinter to find the serpent. Read more

The Whale Rider    Witi Ihimaera      Pages: 150      First published: 1978

The book: Kahu, an eight-year-old Maori girl, adores her great-grandfather, Koro Apirana, but he pays her little attention. Her great-grandfather is chief of the Whangara, who are descendants of a legendary whale rider. The role of chief is always passed onto a male, but there is no male heir, only Kahu. Koro Apirana has no use for Kahu, and is searching outside the family for a male who can become chief.
Kahu battles with her grandfather for love and fights for her own identity. Read more

The Old Man and the Sea      Ernest Hemingway     Pages: 127
First published: 1952

The book: This is the story of an old Cuban fisherman who has failed to catch any fish for eighty-four consecutive days. In an attempt to break this cycle of bad luck, he ventures out further into the ocean than before. Far from home and in deep water, he hooks an enormous Marlin and his battle begins. Read more

The Hound of the Baskervilles   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle      Pages: 124
First published : 1901

The book: Originally serialized in The Strand Magazine in 1901, this is one of Conan Doyle’s best Sherlock Holmes adventures.

The story begins when Dr. James Mortimer visits Holmes with an ancient document that details the legend of a monstrous, giant hound that has plagued the Baskerville family for generations. Dr. Mortimer’s friend, Sir Charles Baskerville, recently died under mysterious circumstances. The arrival, from Canada, of the only remaining Baskerville heir is imminent. Dr. Mortimer is concerned for the life of the new arrival. Sherlock Holmes sets out to solve the mystery of the hound of the Baskervilles. Read more