I loved this book so much I didn’t want it to end. I met Tracy Chevalier at a book promo in Hawarth, Yorkshire (Bronte country) and she read an excerpt from this book and I knew then that I was in for a treat. The author was great too; really down to earth and answered all questions about her previous work and inspirations etc.
Based on the real-life characters of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot in the early 19th century, Remarkable Creatures is a story of two pioneering women in the coastal town of Lyme Regis who discover some of the most amazing fossils ever found and who influence scientific thinking around the possiblility that extinction may exist and who also discovered the fossils of previously unknown prehistoric animals. So little is known about these characters becuase of the fact that they were women in a time when it was thought that science was a mans game. In fact, Mary is only mentioned briefly in a science paper years later. The relationship between Mary and Elizabeth is such a charming one too due to the fact that there is almost a 20 year age gap and Elizabeth is a well-off spinster and Mary is an uneducated working class girl. What brings them together is their love of the great outdoors, fossil hunting and discovery. Elizabeth is also later instrumental in getting Mary some of the recognition she deserves for her finds.
I am a huge Tracy Chevalier fan and this book just reinforced all the reasons why. This book was a joy to read from start to finish and I could have read on for another 300 pages easily. I highly recommend!
Other books of Chevaliers that I have read and also highly recommend are:
- Girl with a Pearl Earring
- Virgin Blue
I still have two more of hers to read (Burning Bright and The Lady and the Unicorn) both of which I am looking forward to.
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