Writing
Jess works across various platforms as both a screenwriter and an author. For any Film/TV enquiries please contact Luke Speed at Curtis Brown.
FICTION
The Serpent Papers (Quercus 2015)
A feminist thriller, set in Barcelona, exploring Violence against Women and Girls, and motifs of silencing in Graeco-Roman folklore and Medieval alchemy, The Serpent Papers follows mystical manuscript expert Anna Verco as she races to save a palimpsest and catch a killer. Inspired by Gothic Horror novels of the late 18th century – specifically The Castle of Otranto (1794) by Horace Walpole, and The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis – and Jung’s Red Book.
Content Warning: This book examines the iconography of rape, and features scenes of a distressing nature.
REVIEWS
‘Combines the intrigue of The Da Vinci Code with the mysticism of a Carlos Ruiz Zafon novel... This is a gripping tale in which every detail counts’
Financial Times
‘The kind of rich, multi-layered story that demands and rewards commitment . . . A triumphant debut, by a young writer with an incredible imagination’
The Times
‘Erudite alchemical thriller . . . Here we have an enigmatic heroine, a wonderful European city, plenty of cultural detail, a string of gruesome murders and a conspiracy that spans centuries . . . everything is relevant - so pay attention - and everything is enticing, for readers who enjoy this sort of game . . . she's an original, entertaining writer. I finished this episode wanting more’
Guardian
‘Intelligent and richly realised’
Oxford Times
‘A complex and ambitious literary thriller’
Observer
‘If you're in search of a thriller, look no further than this novel by London-based Californian Jessica Cornwell. Anna Verco, the heroine, has drawn comparisons to Dragon Tattoo's Lisbeth Salander, and the book is a new take on Dan Brown's turf”
Grazia
The slow circling towards the killer is thrilling, but Cornwell's real skill is in her piling up of legend and history to bring the quest for the manuscript alive. This is much more complex - and significantly more worth your time - than just another Da Vinci Code spin-off
Sunday Times
Remarkable . . . It will leave many readers impatient for the next
Literary Review
A breathless, mystical thriller . . . Will certainly become a cultish craze among all kinds of readers from radical feminists to modern-day mystics and especially those who love sectish puzzles and mystery
Irish Independent
Jessica Cornwell gives women a powerful voice . . . A nail-biting page-turner with a vital female protagonist who stands out in a thriller market flooded with the male-centric books . . . A complex, non-linearly-told narrative that haunts the mind long after the last page
Straits Times
A supremely clever feminist murder mystery
Vagenda
