Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Dutton
Pages
310
Description
When Mary Anning uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home on the English coast, she sets the religious fathers on edge, the townspeople to vicious gossip, and the scientific world alight. Luckily, Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, and in the struggle to be recognized in the wider world, Mary and Elizabeth discover that friendship is their greatest ally.
Description
In 1810, a sister and brother uncover the fossilized skull of an unknown animal in the cliffs on the south coast of England. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.
Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.
The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and jealousy.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.
Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.
The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and jealousy.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
310 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
9780525951452
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Media reviews
Unless you have a deep and unabiding passion for fossils, you'll want to leave this specimen alone.
Giant marine reptiles are not the only remarkable creatures in this book. Chevalier turns a warming spotlight on a friendship cemented by shared obsession and mutual respect across profound class fissures; a friendship between two women who were indirectly responsible for several male careers and
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ultimately (partially, very indirectly) for Darwin's insights. She also gives it what Darwin himself considered mandatory in a novel, a happy ending - or happy enough. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member brenzi
Remarkable Creatures? More like remarkable characters. I really didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, but Chevalier brought to life two of history’s forgotten figures and although I know little about fossils or paleontology I found the narrative utterly compelling.
Mary Anning has
”When Mary discovered that ichthyosaurus, she did not know it at the time, but she was contributing to a new way of thinking about the world. Here was a creature that had never been seen before, that did not seem to exist any longer, but was extinct---the species had died out. Such a phenomenon made people think that perhaps the world is changing, however slowly, rather than being a constant, as had been previously thought…At the same time, geologists were studying the different layers of rock, and thinking about how the world was formed, and wondering about its age. For some time now men have wondered if the world isn’t older than the six thousand years calculated by Bishop Ussher. A learned Scotsman called James Hutton even suggested that the world is so old it has ‘neither a beginning nor an end,’ and that it is impossible for us to measure it.” (Page 256)
So I know what you’re thinking. Fossils? History? Borrrinnnng! But I was mesmerized throughout. Chevalier did an excellent job conceiving a narrative that included both historical figures and creations of her imagination and using them to tell the story of these two women whose important role in history and scientific development has been overlooked. Especially interesting was how difficult it was for a woman at this time to be taken seriously. The barricades put in their way are fairly substantial and make the accomplishments of these two women all the more, well…remarkable.
Mary Anning has
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had a special gift ever since being struck by lightening as a baby. She sees things that to others, remain unseen. This is a skill that comes in very handy on the windswept, rocky coast of England in the early 1800s where, even as a child, she is able to find fossils that others can’t see. She is befriended by Miss Elizabeth Philpot, a London spinster who, along with her two sisters, comes to live in Lyme Regis in order to face a future with diminished fortune. When Mary finds a remarkable fossilized skeleton, it’s the beginning of a new way of scientifically looking at fossils and their meaning that delights scientists and frightens the religious-minded residents while it leads to the early discovery of a theory about the history of the world. As Elizabeth explains to her young nephew:”When Mary discovered that ichthyosaurus, she did not know it at the time, but she was contributing to a new way of thinking about the world. Here was a creature that had never been seen before, that did not seem to exist any longer, but was extinct---the species had died out. Such a phenomenon made people think that perhaps the world is changing, however slowly, rather than being a constant, as had been previously thought…At the same time, geologists were studying the different layers of rock, and thinking about how the world was formed, and wondering about its age. For some time now men have wondered if the world isn’t older than the six thousand years calculated by Bishop Ussher. A learned Scotsman called James Hutton even suggested that the world is so old it has ‘neither a beginning nor an end,’ and that it is impossible for us to measure it.” (Page 256)
So I know what you’re thinking. Fossils? History? Borrrinnnng! But I was mesmerized throughout. Chevalier did an excellent job conceiving a narrative that included both historical figures and creations of her imagination and using them to tell the story of these two women whose important role in history and scientific development has been overlooked. Especially interesting was how difficult it was for a woman at this time to be taken seriously. The barricades put in their way are fairly substantial and make the accomplishments of these two women all the more, well…remarkable.
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LibraryThing member Nickelini
Tracy Chevalier’s Remarkable Creatures is a highly enjoyable read. Set against the scientific world of Regency England before Darwin, it is the story of the friendship between two unlikely companions and fossil hunters. A spinster who is dependent on her brother for support, Elizabeth Philpot
What would have made this book great is if there were illustrations of the fossils. I read Chevalier’s Girl with the Pearl Earring with my Vermeer book at my side, so I was thrilled that her Lady and the Unicorn was illustrated. Chevalier and her publisher should take a close look at Barbara Hodgson’s books (eg: Hippolyte’s Island) and learn from her example.
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reminds me of a character from a Jane Austen novel. Working class Mary Anning is more like someone out of Dickens. Together they explore the world of 19th century paleontology, support each other, quarrel, and take on the patriarchal scientific community (in their own humble way). As with the other two Chevalier novels I’ve read, there are no glaring anachronisms in her historical fiction. I also love how she focuses on people from history who are barely known, instead of royalty; I also appreciate her focus on material culture over politics and battles. I have little interest in fossils, but in Remarkable Creatures, I felt like I was right there with Mary and Elizabeth exploring the wind-swept beaches of Lyme Regis.What would have made this book great is if there were illustrations of the fossils. I read Chevalier’s Girl with the Pearl Earring with my Vermeer book at my side, so I was thrilled that her Lady and the Unicorn was illustrated. Chevalier and her publisher should take a close look at Barbara Hodgson’s books (eg: Hippolyte’s Island) and learn from her example.
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LibraryThing member browner56
Mary Anning is one of those quiet heroes who are so often lost to the relentless march of time. From her impoverished working class background, Mary gained renown as a paleontologist at a time when neither fossil collecting nor women’s contributions to science were particularly welcome. Working
I know all of this only because Tracy Chevalier chose to build her novel “Remarkable Creatures” around bringing Mary’s story to light. Much as in “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” Chevalier here excels at imagining and filling in the back story that brings the available facts to life. Writing historical fiction must be a challenge in that regard: too strict an adherence to the details that are already known and the work slips into mere journalism whereas too much added imagination can obliterate the history. Chevalier walks that fine line as well as anyone writing today.
Reading this novel was a highly satisfying experience. At times both funny and sad, I was quickly drawn into Mary’s and Elizabeth’s world and the way the friendship that defined much of their lives grew and changed over time. Of course, the book’s title is a marvelous double entendre--Mary and Elizabeth themselves are no less remarkable than the creatures whose skeletal remains they unearth on the beach. I found their story to be charming and enlightening and I was sorry when it came to an end.
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beneath the cliffs of Lyme Regis in the early 1800s, often accompanied by her unlikely friend Elizabeth Philpot, Anning made a number of significant discoveries that helped to change the collective mindset about how prehistoric life evolved. By the end of her brief career, she had become well regarded by the scientific community for her numerous contributions as a “fossilist”.I know all of this only because Tracy Chevalier chose to build her novel “Remarkable Creatures” around bringing Mary’s story to light. Much as in “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” Chevalier here excels at imagining and filling in the back story that brings the available facts to life. Writing historical fiction must be a challenge in that regard: too strict an adherence to the details that are already known and the work slips into mere journalism whereas too much added imagination can obliterate the history. Chevalier walks that fine line as well as anyone writing today.
Reading this novel was a highly satisfying experience. At times both funny and sad, I was quickly drawn into Mary’s and Elizabeth’s world and the way the friendship that defined much of their lives grew and changed over time. Of course, the book’s title is a marvelous double entendre--Mary and Elizabeth themselves are no less remarkable than the creatures whose skeletal remains they unearth on the beach. I found their story to be charming and enlightening and I was sorry when it came to an end.
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LibraryThing member LynnB
I just loved this story of two remarkable creatures (women) and the remarkable creatures (fossils) they share an interest in.
This novel is based on two real women. Mary Anning is a working class young woman, who at the age of 11 discovered the world's first complete ichthyosaur. She went on to make
The story centres on her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a spinster 20 years older than Mary, who has moved from London society to the more affordable Lyme Regis.
From this base of fact, Tracy Chevalier has done what she has demonstrated that she does best -- she lets her imagination fill in the gaps with an interesting story. In this case, it is a story of friendship, the role of women in the early 1800s, in particular, their struggles for recognition in the scientific community.
This story also deals with the question of science vs. religion, which remains pertinent today. But, this story takes place in an era where religion had, in general, a stronger influence than it does in Western society today. And, in a time when no one knew what dinosaurs were; in fact, the specimen Mary finds are called "crocodiles" or "turtles". Animals that weren't on Noah's ark couldn't possibly exist since the concept of extinction was not accepted.
Ms. Chevalier writes well. While the depth of her research is obvious, it is never overpowering. She is writing a novel, enhanced by history and by scientific discoveries, but a novel first and foremost. Great stuff.
This novel is based on two real women. Mary Anning is a working class young woman, who at the age of 11 discovered the world's first complete ichthyosaur. She went on to make
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many more contributions to science as she found fossils in Lyme Regis, England. The story centres on her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a spinster 20 years older than Mary, who has moved from London society to the more affordable Lyme Regis.
From this base of fact, Tracy Chevalier has done what she has demonstrated that she does best -- she lets her imagination fill in the gaps with an interesting story. In this case, it is a story of friendship, the role of women in the early 1800s, in particular, their struggles for recognition in the scientific community.
This story also deals with the question of science vs. religion, which remains pertinent today. But, this story takes place in an era where religion had, in general, a stronger influence than it does in Western society today. And, in a time when no one knew what dinosaurs were; in fact, the specimen Mary finds are called "crocodiles" or "turtles". Animals that weren't on Noah's ark couldn't possibly exist since the concept of extinction was not accepted.
Ms. Chevalier writes well. While the depth of her research is obvious, it is never overpowering. She is writing a novel, enhanced by history and by scientific discoveries, but a novel first and foremost. Great stuff.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier is aptly named both because of the two interesting women it is about and because of the fossils they discovered that were to change the way science looked at the past. That these two met and become friends is remarkable, even though there was some twenty
Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot both were living in Lyme Regis and both were avid fossil hunters, scouring the beaches and cliffs in the area for specimens. The Annings were a poor family and enhanced their income by selling the curiosities that they found. Elizabeth Philpot was spinster and an avid collector, and possibly would have been a natural scientist is she hadn’t been bound by Victorian society’s conventions as to how a woman should conduct her life.
The author takes this real life situation and breathes life into two long forgotten characters. By telling their story, she also shines a light on the religious and political views of the day. These characters come up against prejudices about class and gender time and time again. I thought Elizabeth and Mary practically jumped off the pages, very real and fully formed. The downside is that in writing of real people and their lives, there was perhaps not as much excitement and romance as could have been added to a novel with imagined characters. But overall, I found Remarkable Creatures a well-written account of the lives of two very intriguing women.
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years of age difference between them, their strong interest in the remains of long dead creatures drew them together. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot both were living in Lyme Regis and both were avid fossil hunters, scouring the beaches and cliffs in the area for specimens. The Annings were a poor family and enhanced their income by selling the curiosities that they found. Elizabeth Philpot was spinster and an avid collector, and possibly would have been a natural scientist is she hadn’t been bound by Victorian society’s conventions as to how a woman should conduct her life.
The author takes this real life situation and breathes life into two long forgotten characters. By telling their story, she also shines a light on the religious and political views of the day. These characters come up against prejudices about class and gender time and time again. I thought Elizabeth and Mary practically jumped off the pages, very real and fully formed. The downside is that in writing of real people and their lives, there was perhaps not as much excitement and romance as could have been added to a novel with imagined characters. But overall, I found Remarkable Creatures a well-written account of the lives of two very intriguing women.
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LibraryThing member richardderus
Rating: 3* of five
The Book Description: A voyage of discoveries, a meeting of two remarkable women, and extraordinary time and place enrich bestselling author Tracy Chevalier's enthralling new novel
From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear that Mary Anning is marked for
Luckily, Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a recent exile from London, who also loves scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy. Ultimately, in the struggle to be recognized in the wider world, Mary and Elizabeth discover that friendship is their greatest ally.
Remarkable Creatures is a stunning novel of how one woman's gift transcends class and social prejudice to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century. Above all, is it a revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship.
My Review: A middling book about interesting times and people. Not extraordinarily well, or poorly, written. Not unusual or original in plotting or in, frankly, any way I can think of. Like all of Chevalier's work, a solid, well-made entertainment, about a subject most of us have never given one instant's thought to.
Therein its charm. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot weren't the women of Jane Austen's novels, and they weren't subjected to the same constraints as those women were. They lived in poverty whether genteel or grinding, and they followed their own interests instead of doing what was thought to be necessary to get a husband. Chevalier points up the ways in which this freedom made the women best able to pursue the passions each might never have known had she been a mother and a wife.
We owe our knowledge of plesiosaurs and other aquatic beasts of the era to these remarkable women, who hunted for and preserved fossils along England's Dorset coast. That Mary Anning was the more productive of the two and that it was she who found the major finds does not minimize the better-off Miss Philpot's many contributions, both emotional and financial, to the process.
In the end, it is the usual suspect, jealousy, that ends the friendship across a generation and a class divide. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot fall in love with the same man. It leads to the eruption of their other jealousies, of course, and the many things we think but never say come out of each woman's mouth.
Years pass, and many events occur, but unlike theirs, endings are only rarely as good as beginnings. Anning and Philpot lived in a time when the role of a woman was to be of service. Neither had a man to serve, so they served Mankind with their old rock-boned beasts. Much of what we think today would have been harder and later in coming without them, their small but vital role in making modern science what it is.
Remarkable creatures indeed.
The Book Description: A voyage of discoveries, a meeting of two remarkable women, and extraordinary time and place enrich bestselling author Tracy Chevalier's enthralling new novel
From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear that Mary Anning is marked for
Show More
greatness. On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, she learns that she has "the eye"—and finds what no one else can see. When Mary uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious fathers on edge, the townspeople to vicious gossip, and the scientific world alight. In an arena dominated by men, however, Mary is barred from the academic community; as a young woman with unusual interests she is suspected of sinful behavior. Nature is a threat, throwing bitter, cold storms and landslips at her. And when she falls in love, it is with an impossible man.Luckily, Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a recent exile from London, who also loves scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy. Ultimately, in the struggle to be recognized in the wider world, Mary and Elizabeth discover that friendship is their greatest ally.
Remarkable Creatures is a stunning novel of how one woman's gift transcends class and social prejudice to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century. Above all, is it a revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship.
My Review: A middling book about interesting times and people. Not extraordinarily well, or poorly, written. Not unusual or original in plotting or in, frankly, any way I can think of. Like all of Chevalier's work, a solid, well-made entertainment, about a subject most of us have never given one instant's thought to.
Therein its charm. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot weren't the women of Jane Austen's novels, and they weren't subjected to the same constraints as those women were. They lived in poverty whether genteel or grinding, and they followed their own interests instead of doing what was thought to be necessary to get a husband. Chevalier points up the ways in which this freedom made the women best able to pursue the passions each might never have known had she been a mother and a wife.
We owe our knowledge of plesiosaurs and other aquatic beasts of the era to these remarkable women, who hunted for and preserved fossils along England's Dorset coast. That Mary Anning was the more productive of the two and that it was she who found the major finds does not minimize the better-off Miss Philpot's many contributions, both emotional and financial, to the process.
In the end, it is the usual suspect, jealousy, that ends the friendship across a generation and a class divide. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot fall in love with the same man. It leads to the eruption of their other jealousies, of course, and the many things we think but never say come out of each woman's mouth.
Years pass, and many events occur, but unlike theirs, endings are only rarely as good as beginnings. Anning and Philpot lived in a time when the role of a woman was to be of service. Neither had a man to serve, so they served Mankind with their old rock-boned beasts. Much of what we think today would have been harder and later in coming without them, their small but vital role in making modern science what it is.
Remarkable creatures indeed.
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LibraryThing member justabookreader
Remarkable Creatures was a lovely book. The last Chevalier book I read was The Girl with the Pearl Earring which I enjoyed and Remarkable Creatures was just as entrancing.
The main characters, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, are endearing. Elizabeth is cold, harsh, and way too outspoken for a
While the book is about Mary’s fossil discoveries of previously unknown sea creatures, the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, and the ways in which her discoveries changed the scientific community and brought about a discussion of the theory of extinction, the book really is about the friendship these two women forge. Elizabeth is an educated spinster from London with no prospects for marriage and Mary is a poor, uneducated girl from the seaside town of Lyme Regis who hunts for fossils on the beach to sell to tourists. Other than the fossils they both love and obsessively hunt, the two have little in common. You get to watch both grow and challenge the men who want to tell them how to act and what to think. It’s a wonderful read and I recommend it.
The main characters, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, are endearing. Elizabeth is cold, harsh, and way too outspoken for a
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woman at the time (around 1810) which sometimes gets her in trouble. She takes a minute to grow on you, but once she does, you’re infinitely grateful for her forwardness and willingness to stand up for what she thinks is right. Mary on the other hand is too trusting and you wish she wouldn’t be. While the book is about Mary’s fossil discoveries of previously unknown sea creatures, the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, and the ways in which her discoveries changed the scientific community and brought about a discussion of the theory of extinction, the book really is about the friendship these two women forge. Elizabeth is an educated spinster from London with no prospects for marriage and Mary is a poor, uneducated girl from the seaside town of Lyme Regis who hunts for fossils on the beach to sell to tourists. Other than the fossils they both love and obsessively hunt, the two have little in common. You get to watch both grow and challenge the men who want to tell them how to act and what to think. It’s a wonderful read and I recommend it.
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LibraryThing member bachaney
Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures" focuses on two historical women--Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, and tries to flesh out the historical accounts of the lives of these women that exists in the scientific record. The book begins when Philpot has just moved to the town of Lyme Regis, and
In "Remarkable Creatures" Chevalier has done a good job of taking real historical figures and crafting an interesting story around them. I had never heard of either Anning or Philpot, but I actually had seen some of the collections of fossils they contributed to at the British Museum. The novel quickly introduces you to these two women and their world, and does a good job of helping you to see the world through their eyes. I thought the most interesting dynamic of the story was how the men treated Philpot and Anning, especially how they were considered just "hunters" not real scientists because they were women. Some of the novel, particularly the love stories and jealousy did seem a bit forced, but not so much so that they ruined the rest of the story.
I would recommend this book to readers interested in women's lives during the early 19th century and to general fans of historical fiction. It was well done and an interesting quick read.
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first meets Anning. Philpot, in her late 20s, is already a spinster, and moving to Lyme from London gives her the freedom to pursue her unladylike passion for fossils. Anning has a natural gift for fossil hunting, and Philpot is quickly drawn to her. Over the next two decades these women will develop a close bond and make many fossil discoveries together. But will a force bigger than themselves--love or fame--eventually draw them apart? In "Remarkable Creatures" Chevalier has done a good job of taking real historical figures and crafting an interesting story around them. I had never heard of either Anning or Philpot, but I actually had seen some of the collections of fossils they contributed to at the British Museum. The novel quickly introduces you to these two women and their world, and does a good job of helping you to see the world through their eyes. I thought the most interesting dynamic of the story was how the men treated Philpot and Anning, especially how they were considered just "hunters" not real scientists because they were women. Some of the novel, particularly the love stories and jealousy did seem a bit forced, but not so much so that they ruined the rest of the story.
I would recommend this book to readers interested in women's lives during the early 19th century and to general fans of historical fiction. It was well done and an interesting quick read.
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LibraryThing member katylit
I was going to start this review by saying that the only problem with this book is that it's too short. But even that isn't a problem, it's just that I was sorry it was over.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of two women, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, in early 19th century England, both of
It is a wonderful book.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of two women, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, in early 19th century England, both of
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whom have a passion for fossils. I enjoyed the weaving of fact and fiction, learning more, as always, with the historical details. It was so interesting to read about the debate that arose from fossils, things we take so much for granted now. While there was lots about digging in the ground in the book, there was also a wonderful story of a remarkable friendship between two diverse women, from different classes in society, years apart in age, and yet bound together in their common interest.It is a wonderful book.
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LibraryThing member rayski
Based upon the real life fossil collectors Mary Anning, which there is much written on, and Elizabeth Philpot which little is written on. Chevalier did her homework and spun an entertaining tale that one could hold on to as a possible way it happened story. But Chevalier never made any claims to
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say 'this is how it happened' rather to take the historic facts of a remarkable woman (Anning) and create a story around her. Not much different than her Girl with Pearl Earring. In the end it was an easy, enjoyable story that made you root for the women (Anning and Philpot), angry with early 19th century chauvinism and think about how much life is lost when a few bad words shared between friends make for years of lost time. Makes you think about some of the words you've said and regretted over the years that only provided you a moment of self fulfillment and a lifetime of regret. Show Less
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: Remarkable Creatures tells the story of two women living in Lyme Regis, along the southern coast of England, in the early 1800s. Elizabeth Philpot is the eldest of three unmarried sisters, forced to move from London to Lyme by their reduced circumstances. Mary Anning was born in Lyme, the
Review: I think I would be hard-pressed to find another piece of historical fiction that was so clearly designed to appeal to me. I love fossils, love fossil collecting, love the history of science, love books set in the early 1800s, and oh yes, the fossils! I have several ammonites and a belemnite sitting on one of my bookcases, and have gone fossil-hunting myself more than once. So as soon as I found out that this book was about fossils, I knew I wanted to read it, and once I realized that it was based on real people, I was totally sold. (And also mentally planning a trip to Lyme. I've never hunted Jurassic fossils before!) This book is jam-packed with history-of-science goodies; not just Mary Anning but also Henry de la Beche, William Buckland, and Georges Cuvier also make appearances. More to the point, the book depicts an interesting point of time, when the first fossils of creatures that no longer existed were being found, and the things like extinction and the age of the earth first begin to be seriously scientifically considered. I think Chevalier did a very nice job in bringing the debate - and some of the solutions of the time - to life without making the "science vs. religion" argument the central focus of the book.
But this book isn't just about paleontology, or even just about science. It's primarily about the evolving friendship between Mary and Elizabeth - two women of different ages, from such different walks of life - and how that friendship is shaped by the expected place of women in Regency society. I thought both Chevalier and the audiobook producers did a great job with this; Mary and Elizabeth alternate POV chapters, and both of them have clear, strong, believable voices, which were beautifully read by the narrators. I thought it was particularly impressive that the narrator reading Mary's chapters could sound like Elizabeth whenever she needed to read a line of dialogue (and vice-versa), given how distinct the two characters' voices were.
The book was a little slow at times, and it's definitely character- rather than plot-driven. But I enjoyed the characters and their setting so much that I found that I didn't really mind that sometimes not all that much was happening. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of science, but also more broadly for historical fiction fans who enjoy stories about real, non-royal, historical people.
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daughter of a carpenter, and only eleven years old at the start of the story. Both Mary and Elizabeth show an affinity for fossils - or curies, as Mary calls them - which are abundant in the seaside cliffs of Lyme. Elizabeth collects them primarily as a hobby, because she finds them - and what they suggest about the nature of creation and life on Earth - fascinating, but Mary is not driven by such high-minded concerns. She collects them to sell, to make money to pay off her father's debts, and luckily she has a good eye for the traces of fossils embedded in the cliffs. But for all her hard work, the men of science that buy her finds (including the first complete specimens of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs) are not the sort that will recognize how beholden they are to the rough, unlettered daughter of a tradesman.Review: I think I would be hard-pressed to find another piece of historical fiction that was so clearly designed to appeal to me. I love fossils, love fossil collecting, love the history of science, love books set in the early 1800s, and oh yes, the fossils! I have several ammonites and a belemnite sitting on one of my bookcases, and have gone fossil-hunting myself more than once. So as soon as I found out that this book was about fossils, I knew I wanted to read it, and once I realized that it was based on real people, I was totally sold. (And also mentally planning a trip to Lyme. I've never hunted Jurassic fossils before!) This book is jam-packed with history-of-science goodies; not just Mary Anning but also Henry de la Beche, William Buckland, and Georges Cuvier also make appearances. More to the point, the book depicts an interesting point of time, when the first fossils of creatures that no longer existed were being found, and the things like extinction and the age of the earth first begin to be seriously scientifically considered. I think Chevalier did a very nice job in bringing the debate - and some of the solutions of the time - to life without making the "science vs. religion" argument the central focus of the book.
But this book isn't just about paleontology, or even just about science. It's primarily about the evolving friendship between Mary and Elizabeth - two women of different ages, from such different walks of life - and how that friendship is shaped by the expected place of women in Regency society. I thought both Chevalier and the audiobook producers did a great job with this; Mary and Elizabeth alternate POV chapters, and both of them have clear, strong, believable voices, which were beautifully read by the narrators. I thought it was particularly impressive that the narrator reading Mary's chapters could sound like Elizabeth whenever she needed to read a line of dialogue (and vice-versa), given how distinct the two characters' voices were.
The book was a little slow at times, and it's definitely character- rather than plot-driven. But I enjoyed the characters and their setting so much that I found that I didn't really mind that sometimes not all that much was happening. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of science, but also more broadly for historical fiction fans who enjoy stories about real, non-royal, historical people.
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LibraryThing member generalkala
It's 2am and so I apologise for the sleep-deprived babble.
But it's just the kind of book this is. It's written on such a simple subject, the collection of fossils on the beaches of Lyme Regis, but somehow it reaches out and enthralls you.
Although I've only briefly skimmed the Wikipedia article, the
To be honest, I didn't even really want to pick up the book in the first place. Tracy Chevalier's other books have been mediocre at best. I only did so because the ISBN ended in a four (long story)! I'm so glad I did though, although I should have gone to bed hours ago.
The reason I didn't give it five stars is the unecessary romance. It feels as though the author suddenly realised the lack after the book was finished and shoved it in afterwards with a trowel. It just doesn't fit and seems remarkably out of place. It's also not historically accurate.
My only other problem is the unlikeableness (a specially formulated 2am word) of one of the main characters. At one point I was actually hoping she would suffocate under a pile of clay. But there you go.
So yes. An accessible yet informative work about fossils with sadly unlikeable characters. And now I'm going to bed.
But it's just the kind of book this is. It's written on such a simple subject, the collection of fossils on the beaches of Lyme Regis, but somehow it reaches out and enthralls you.
Although I've only briefly skimmed the Wikipedia article, the
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book does seem to be fairly accurate on certain scientific discoveries and the figures involved. Furthermore, a short bibliography has been added so it's easier to read around the subject. I certainly plan to. It's strange, I've never been even vaguely interested in fossils before, but I do have the urge to learn more.To be honest, I didn't even really want to pick up the book in the first place. Tracy Chevalier's other books have been mediocre at best. I only did so because the ISBN ended in a four (long story)! I'm so glad I did though, although I should have gone to bed hours ago.
The reason I didn't give it five stars is the unecessary romance. It feels as though the author suddenly realised the lack after the book was finished and shoved it in afterwards with a trowel. It just doesn't fit and seems remarkably out of place. It's also not historically accurate.
My only other problem is the unlikeableness (a specially formulated 2am word) of one of the main characters. At one point I was actually hoping she would suffocate under a pile of clay. But there you go.
So yes. An accessible yet informative work about fossils with sadly unlikeable characters. And now I'm going to bed.
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LibraryThing member rmckeown
In Tracy Chevalier’s latest novel, Remarkable Creatures, she has, once again, set her deft hand to drawing characters, situations, and landscapes to enthrall the reader.
This historical novel tells the story of Mary Anning, a poor girl during the Regency period in England. Her father, a cabinet
Creatures is in opposition to Jane Austen’s stories with happy endings. In fact, Elizabeth chides her sister for living in the unreal world of Miss Austen. Elizabeth and her sisters – poor, unattractive, ungainly – have no hope of a good match, but they have learned to live with the disappointment, burying themselves in reading, gardening, and fossil hunting.
Mary and Elizabeth charge into the new, masculine world of paleontology and discover new species. Ironically, these women, “fossilized” by society, become famous for their fossils. The author also uses Brontë’s term, “creature,” to refer to the women in the story lending a double meaning to the title.
In the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier captured the feeling, atmosphere, and language of 17th-century Holland. She has done the same with England in the opening years of the1800s. The chapters alternate narrators between Elizabeth and Mary, and Chevalier accurately voices Elizabeth, an upper class woman who is painfully aware of her circumstances and place in society, and Mary, the eldest daughter of a family struggling on the precipice of financial ruin and the workhouse.
Elizabeth says, “‘You must pardon my sister, sir,’ I said now. ‘Just before you arrived she had been complaining of a cough. She would not want to inflict her illness on a visitor’” (74). Right off the pages of Pride and Prejudice!
Mary, on the other hand sounds like this, “It weren’t just the money from selling the croc that changed things. It was knowing there was something to hunt for and I was better at finding it than most – this was what were different.” (111)
Unlike most of Austen’s Regency women, Mary pursues her passion regardless of the whispers of the townspeople, while Elizabeth is a bit more reserved, she does, on occasion, get her hackles up – a bit like Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice.
For fans of Austen and Brontë, or readers interested in the early days of paleontology, or for those interested in period pieces set in 19th century England, or those who simply love a great story, this novel has something for everyone. Five stars.
--Jim, 7/5/10
This historical novel tells the story of Mary Anning, a poor girl during the Regency period in England. Her father, a cabinet
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maker, ekes out the barest of a living for his family. Mary has a unique talent for spotting fossils along the shoreline of southern England. She befriends Elizabeth Philpot, a spinster banished from London to Lyme Regis. Elizabeth, distraught at her removal as a “poor relation,” begins to wander the beaches and finds some interesting fossils. Creatures is in opposition to Jane Austen’s stories with happy endings. In fact, Elizabeth chides her sister for living in the unreal world of Miss Austen. Elizabeth and her sisters – poor, unattractive, ungainly – have no hope of a good match, but they have learned to live with the disappointment, burying themselves in reading, gardening, and fossil hunting.
Mary and Elizabeth charge into the new, masculine world of paleontology and discover new species. Ironically, these women, “fossilized” by society, become famous for their fossils. The author also uses Brontë’s term, “creature,” to refer to the women in the story lending a double meaning to the title.
In the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier captured the feeling, atmosphere, and language of 17th-century Holland. She has done the same with England in the opening years of the1800s. The chapters alternate narrators between Elizabeth and Mary, and Chevalier accurately voices Elizabeth, an upper class woman who is painfully aware of her circumstances and place in society, and Mary, the eldest daughter of a family struggling on the precipice of financial ruin and the workhouse.
Elizabeth says, “‘You must pardon my sister, sir,’ I said now. ‘Just before you arrived she had been complaining of a cough. She would not want to inflict her illness on a visitor’” (74). Right off the pages of Pride and Prejudice!
Mary, on the other hand sounds like this, “It weren’t just the money from selling the croc that changed things. It was knowing there was something to hunt for and I was better at finding it than most – this was what were different.” (111)
Unlike most of Austen’s Regency women, Mary pursues her passion regardless of the whispers of the townspeople, while Elizabeth is a bit more reserved, she does, on occasion, get her hackles up – a bit like Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice.
For fans of Austen and Brontë, or readers interested in the early days of paleontology, or for those interested in period pieces set in 19th century England, or those who simply love a great story, this novel has something for everyone. Five stars.
--Jim, 7/5/10
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LibraryThing member cameling
This historical novel covers her life from the time she was struck by lightning as a baby in the arms of a neighbor, to adulthood when she at last established herself as a paleontologist, no mean feat consider the times and the restrictions placed on her by society because of her gender and her
Her many fossilized finds helped support her family after her father's death, but it wasn't until she started to find more ichthyosaurs and then a plesiosaur that she started to earn enough money through the sale of her fossils finds that her family was finally able to lift themselves out of poverty. But life was not easy for Mary Anning, and as a child and indeed as a young adult, she was often taken advantage of by other collectors. She befriended a middle-aged spinster, Elizabeth Philpot, who moved down from London with her sisters after their brother married, and who was equally fascinated with fossils. Their friendship blossomed through their shared interest, despite their difference in station and age.
An interesting addition to the tale is the consternation felt by the religious when Mary and Elizabeth ask questions that border on blasphemy regarding the identity and extinction of the fossils that were once living creatures. The thin line between science and religion are delicately treated in this book.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
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station in life as the working class daughter of a cabinet maker. Her many fossilized finds helped support her family after her father's death, but it wasn't until she started to find more ichthyosaurs and then a plesiosaur that she started to earn enough money through the sale of her fossils finds that her family was finally able to lift themselves out of poverty. But life was not easy for Mary Anning, and as a child and indeed as a young adult, she was often taken advantage of by other collectors. She befriended a middle-aged spinster, Elizabeth Philpot, who moved down from London with her sisters after their brother married, and who was equally fascinated with fossils. Their friendship blossomed through their shared interest, despite their difference in station and age.
An interesting addition to the tale is the consternation felt by the religious when Mary and Elizabeth ask questions that border on blasphemy regarding the identity and extinction of the fossils that were once living creatures. The thin line between science and religion are delicately treated in this book.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member LiterateHousewife
Elizabeth, along with her sisters Louise and Margaret, as unmarried daughters of the Philpot family, must relocate from London when their only brother becomes engaged. This was not spoken of upfront, but implied as they were offered the opportunity to spend the summer looking at different seaside
During Elizabeth and Mary’s lifetime, the widely held belief by society was that God created the earth and all of its creatures once and that it remained as is since the beginning. This meant that all animals that existed at that time existed for the entirety of earth’s history. More importantly, since all that God created was perfect, it was not possible that He would allow any of his creatures to become extinct. This concerned Elizabeth from the beginning and it was frustrating to her to have no one to discuss the implications of her fossils, either large or small. At the same time, there was something the general public found eery about curies and, as a result, both Elizabeth and Mary were considered strange. Their interest and delight in fossils set them apart. People did not want to be closely associated with them and, as Elizabeth found out, her preoccupation could cost her sister a potential engagement. They were also both frustrated by the lack of opportunity for their sex. In pre-Victorian England, women were viewed as incapable of intellectual pursuits. Scientific men like William Buckland and Georges Cuvier came or sent others looking for Mary Anning's help in hunting out and buying her curies, but Mary was often not given credit for the discovery, the collector was. This caused Mary much sorrow and fueled Elizabeth with so much indignation that she found herself confronting men publically in ways she never through she was capable. It was at those times that I finally began to love her character and understand the weight Elizabeth carried on her shoulders.
When I picked up Remarkable Creatures and began reading, I didn't do any research. I hadn't realized at the time that Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are actual historical figures who lived in Lyme Regis. I wish I had pictures in front of me of the huge fossils Mary Anning found in the cliffs surrounding Lyme Regis as I was reading. Seeing them after reading the novel was awe-inspiring. I cannot imagine uncovering such things when there was no such thing as dinosaurs. How very thrilling and unnerving that must have been! Perhaps if those fossils had not been found and preserved had Mary and Elizabeth not been involved the discovery would have been made by others, but it is equally likely that they might not. The suspicion and superstition surrounding curies at that time and all that they called into question could have led to their destruction. Despite all that we have learned about natural history since the 19th century, Elizabeth Philpot's questions about how scientific knowledge and religious belief can coexist are still relavent today - 150 years since the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. This novel is sure to spark some interesting book club discussions.
Tracy Chevalier is an author I am sure to watch because she chooses diverse and interesting subject matter. Her Postscript added even more to her portrait of Mary's skill and vulnerability and Elizabeth's convictions and strength. It will never cease to amaze me how small things come together to make up something great. Elizabeth needed Mary's lack of concern for what Lyme Regis thought of her and what she was doing while Mary needed Elizabeth's access and influence in the greater society. Mary needed Elizabeth's knowledge and intellectual interest in fossils and Elizabeth needed Mary's aptitude for caring for the curies once they were found.
Reading Remarkable Creatures was like lazily looking for fish fossils along the beach and then looking up to the cliffs and noticing something unfamiliar and spectacular. It built gradually for me. I wasn’t sure where the story was going until it hit me out of the blue. Once I started chiseling away that large monster, I was hooked. It is a novel about friendship, jealousy, the role of women, and the joy of discovery. The story has a slower pace and is more subtle than my favorites such as The Lady and the Unicorn, The Virgin Blue, and Falling Angels. I enjoyed Remarkable Creatures just as muchfor what I learned along the way and what it prompted me to explore after I finished. You really owe it to yourself to read this novel if you enjoy reading about 19th century England, Jane Austen, and natural history. I can see Mary Anning becoming a beloved heroine for young women, especially those interested in pursuing the sciences. I am so thankful that Chevalier introduced me to her.
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communities. They would have 150 pounds per year on which to live and they would be much more comfortable in a less expensive location outside of London. When Elizabeth found her first fossil on the beach at Lyme Regis, she knew that is where she wanted to live. Luckily, her sisters were in agreement. It was then that the Philpot spinsters moved into Morley cottage. Elizabeth’s keen interest in fossils and natural history brought her into contact with the Anning family. Richard Anning, a cabinet maker, also sold fossils – or curies – to supplement the family’s income. Mary, his oldest daughter, had the same passion for curies that Elizabeth did, but she lacked the education behind it. Although Mary was many years younger than Elizabeth and from a much lower class, the two became friends who enjoyed hunting for curies on the beach. Both of their lives changed when Mary’s brother found the fossilized remains of what is now known as the first ichthyosaurs in the cliffs around Lyme Regis. Their joint interest pulled them together, but eventually tore them apart when educated men from around England began to call on Mary her skills. Jealousy and resentment became a stumbling block for them both.During Elizabeth and Mary’s lifetime, the widely held belief by society was that God created the earth and all of its creatures once and that it remained as is since the beginning. This meant that all animals that existed at that time existed for the entirety of earth’s history. More importantly, since all that God created was perfect, it was not possible that He would allow any of his creatures to become extinct. This concerned Elizabeth from the beginning and it was frustrating to her to have no one to discuss the implications of her fossils, either large or small. At the same time, there was something the general public found eery about curies and, as a result, both Elizabeth and Mary were considered strange. Their interest and delight in fossils set them apart. People did not want to be closely associated with them and, as Elizabeth found out, her preoccupation could cost her sister a potential engagement. They were also both frustrated by the lack of opportunity for their sex. In pre-Victorian England, women were viewed as incapable of intellectual pursuits. Scientific men like William Buckland and Georges Cuvier came or sent others looking for Mary Anning's help in hunting out and buying her curies, but Mary was often not given credit for the discovery, the collector was. This caused Mary much sorrow and fueled Elizabeth with so much indignation that she found herself confronting men publically in ways she never through she was capable. It was at those times that I finally began to love her character and understand the weight Elizabeth carried on her shoulders.
When I picked up Remarkable Creatures and began reading, I didn't do any research. I hadn't realized at the time that Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are actual historical figures who lived in Lyme Regis. I wish I had pictures in front of me of the huge fossils Mary Anning found in the cliffs surrounding Lyme Regis as I was reading. Seeing them after reading the novel was awe-inspiring. I cannot imagine uncovering such things when there was no such thing as dinosaurs. How very thrilling and unnerving that must have been! Perhaps if those fossils had not been found and preserved had Mary and Elizabeth not been involved the discovery would have been made by others, but it is equally likely that they might not. The suspicion and superstition surrounding curies at that time and all that they called into question could have led to their destruction. Despite all that we have learned about natural history since the 19th century, Elizabeth Philpot's questions about how scientific knowledge and religious belief can coexist are still relavent today - 150 years since the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. This novel is sure to spark some interesting book club discussions.
Tracy Chevalier is an author I am sure to watch because she chooses diverse and interesting subject matter. Her Postscript added even more to her portrait of Mary's skill and vulnerability and Elizabeth's convictions and strength. It will never cease to amaze me how small things come together to make up something great. Elizabeth needed Mary's lack of concern for what Lyme Regis thought of her and what she was doing while Mary needed Elizabeth's access and influence in the greater society. Mary needed Elizabeth's knowledge and intellectual interest in fossils and Elizabeth needed Mary's aptitude for caring for the curies once they were found.
Reading Remarkable Creatures was like lazily looking for fish fossils along the beach and then looking up to the cliffs and noticing something unfamiliar and spectacular. It built gradually for me. I wasn’t sure where the story was going until it hit me out of the blue. Once I started chiseling away that large monster, I was hooked. It is a novel about friendship, jealousy, the role of women, and the joy of discovery. The story has a slower pace and is more subtle than my favorites such as The Lady and the Unicorn, The Virgin Blue, and Falling Angels. I enjoyed Remarkable Creatures just as muchfor what I learned along the way and what it prompted me to explore after I finished. You really owe it to yourself to read this novel if you enjoy reading about 19th century England, Jane Austen, and natural history. I can see Mary Anning becoming a beloved heroine for young women, especially those interested in pursuing the sciences. I am so thankful that Chevalier introduced me to her.
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LibraryThing member DubaiReader
An enjoyable read.
The word in my head, having just finished this book, is 'gentle'.
I enjoyed it, as I have all Tracy Chevalier's books, but it wasn't my favourite.
The story is narrated by the two main characters; Mary Anning, a young working class girl who keeps her family from the workhouse by
They share an interest in the bountiful fossils found strewn on the beach and thus breach a barrier between classes that would have otherwise kept them apart.
Fossils were fashionable in the early nineteenth century and their finds create quite a stir. Eventually this leads to discoveries that force people to question the church's teachings that God created everything on earth - how can there be creatures that he discarded along the way? Does this mean that some of his creations were not perfect??
This is not, however, an overly religous biased book, nor does it become tedious on the subject of fossils. There is a comfortable balance between these discoveries and the development of the characters. There are also some fascinating and influential people who come into the lives of Mary and Elizabeth as a result of these finds.
A gentle, highly readable historical novel.
Recommended.
The word in my head, having just finished this book, is 'gentle'.
I enjoyed it, as I have all Tracy Chevalier's books, but it wasn't my favourite.
The story is narrated by the two main characters; Mary Anning, a young working class girl who keeps her family from the workhouse by
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collecting and selling the fossils from the beach at Lyme Regis, and Elizabeth Philpot, a middle class spinster who moves with her sisters from London after her brother takes the family home for himself and his wife.They share an interest in the bountiful fossils found strewn on the beach and thus breach a barrier between classes that would have otherwise kept them apart.
Fossils were fashionable in the early nineteenth century and their finds create quite a stir. Eventually this leads to discoveries that force people to question the church's teachings that God created everything on earth - how can there be creatures that he discarded along the way? Does this mean that some of his creations were not perfect??
This is not, however, an overly religous biased book, nor does it become tedious on the subject of fossils. There is a comfortable balance between these discoveries and the development of the characters. There are also some fascinating and influential people who come into the lives of Mary and Elizabeth as a result of these finds.
A gentle, highly readable historical novel.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
When “spinster” Elizabeth Philpot moves with her sisters to Lyme-Regis, she meets young working-class Mary Anning, who has survived being struck by lightening as a baby and now helps her family earn money by collecting and selling fossils. The two bond over fossil finding during the years as
Remarkable Creatures is narrated in alternating chapters by Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, both of whom are very interesting characters by way of their being unconventional women not held back (or, trying not to be held back) by the time in which they lived. For the audio reader, Remarkable Creatures is read by two audio narrators (one for Elizabeth and one for Mary) and both are excellent and engaging. These characters on based on real people of the same names, but this is a novel, not a biography. (The basic background is true but there’s poetic license with the events that occur.) To that end, there's depth to the characters and a feeling that you are really getting to know their inner thoughts, not just a simple ‘and then so-and-so did such-and-such.’
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these people – both their characters and then researching their lives after reading the book – and finding out more about scientific discoveries that I knew little about before. The stunning lack of gender equality during the time these women lived is so frustrating to read about that I can’t begin to imagine what it was like to live then. How unfortunate that Mary Anning as someone who contributed so much to science did not receive proper credit for her work during her lifetime and is little known today.
The book so beautifully painted a picture of Lyme-Regis that I now what to go there, as well as trek over to the nearest geology museum to examine fossils in the nearer future. I’d definitely recommend this book as it has so many layers to unravel with historical and scientific aspects, great character studies, and all-around literary brilliance.
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Mary grows into womanhood, with their fair share of triumphs and disappointments throughout that time period. Remarkable Creatures is narrated in alternating chapters by Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, both of whom are very interesting characters by way of their being unconventional women not held back (or, trying not to be held back) by the time in which they lived. For the audio reader, Remarkable Creatures is read by two audio narrators (one for Elizabeth and one for Mary) and both are excellent and engaging. These characters on based on real people of the same names, but this is a novel, not a biography. (The basic background is true but there’s poetic license with the events that occur.) To that end, there's depth to the characters and a feeling that you are really getting to know their inner thoughts, not just a simple ‘and then so-and-so did such-and-such.’
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these people – both their characters and then researching their lives after reading the book – and finding out more about scientific discoveries that I knew little about before. The stunning lack of gender equality during the time these women lived is so frustrating to read about that I can’t begin to imagine what it was like to live then. How unfortunate that Mary Anning as someone who contributed so much to science did not receive proper credit for her work during her lifetime and is little known today.
The book so beautifully painted a picture of Lyme-Regis that I now what to go there, as well as trek over to the nearest geology museum to examine fossils in the nearer future. I’d definitely recommend this book as it has so many layers to unravel with historical and scientific aspects, great character studies, and all-around literary brilliance.
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LibraryThing member Sensory
Based on the true history of Mary Anning, a 19th century woman who became renowned as a 'fossilist', Remarkable Creatures recounts the story behind the discovery of ancient creatures whose fossils washed up on the shores of Lyme Regis, a village in England and the friendship which develops between
I enjoyed this book very much. The friendship between the two women showed how class structure and status, as well as gender, affected what a woman could and could not do in polite society during the 1800's. I could feel the frustration, along with the characters, of not being taken seriously by the established norms of the day. I also enjoyed following Mary as she made amazing discoveries along the beaches of Lyme Regis. Having majored in geology at university, I especially enjoyed recognizing the familiar names of some of the creatures Mary Anning picked up and was taken aback when a very familiar name from the world of geology popped up on the page.
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two fossil hunters, Mary and Elizabeth Philpot.I enjoyed this book very much. The friendship between the two women showed how class structure and status, as well as gender, affected what a woman could and could not do in polite society during the 1800's. I could feel the frustration, along with the characters, of not being taken seriously by the established norms of the day. I also enjoyed following Mary as she made amazing discoveries along the beaches of Lyme Regis. Having majored in geology at university, I especially enjoyed recognizing the familiar names of some of the creatures Mary Anning picked up and was taken aback when a very familiar name from the world of geology popped up on the page.
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LibraryThing member SandSing7
Those who insist that this is a novel about fossils are sorely mistaken. Fossils provide a mere backdrop for the true "remarkable creatures" in this novel - women who insisted on having a voice in what, at the time, was a male dominated conversation.
LibraryThing member gaskella
This is the story of two women in the early 1800s - fossil hunters who played an important part in the beginnings of the evolutionary debate.
Elizabeth Philpott and her younger sisters have to move after their brother marries; not being able to afford to live in Brighton, they choose Lyme Regis
Elizabeth meets Mary out on the beach, and the two strike up a friendship despite being of different classes and ages, and they collect fossils together. Elizabeth is an educated woman with an interest in natural sciences, and is following new developments in what will become palaeontology, and is really beginning to question to creation myth - surely God can't have put fossils in the rocks as a test of faith as the local vicar believes - the fossils must be creatures that have become extinct. Over the next few years, interest in fossils increases hugely. After Mary discovers the skeleton of a 'crocodile' (actually an ichthyosaurus) more collectors come to Lyme and one in particular, Colonel Birch, takes a big interest in Mary - and she to him leading to a falling out between Mary and Elizabeth who thinks he's taking her for a ride...
Once again, Chevalier brings history to life - most of the characters within existed. This well-researched novel, coming as it does during the 150th anniversary of Darwin's The Origin of Species, is a treat from start to finish. I enjoyed all the explanations of the fossils - as Mary and Elizabeth self-educate on the subject, we benefit from that too. Told mostly in alternating voices between Mary and Elizabeth, it is a gentle tale, but not without its moments of drama. Although it considers all the Austenish concerns of friendship, marriage, manners and social mobility, the main thrust is that of women trying to be accepted in the man's world. Some of the Regency men may have been dinosaurs, there were enough enlightened ones to recognise the womens' contributions and ultimately this story celebrates their success. I think it's my favourite of her novels so far. (Book supplied by the Amazon Vine programme).
Elizabeth Philpott and her younger sisters have to move after their brother marries; not being able to afford to live in Brighton, they choose Lyme Regis
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where the youngest sister Margaret can shine in society there - as, in the novels of Jane Austen, marriage is a high priority for them. Already living in Lyme, young Mary Anning earns a living collecting fossils and selling these curiosities, or 'curies' as they are known, to visitors to the town; she has a real feel for the fossils. But when her father dies leaving them in debt, the pressure is on the family to make ends meet. Elizabeth meets Mary out on the beach, and the two strike up a friendship despite being of different classes and ages, and they collect fossils together. Elizabeth is an educated woman with an interest in natural sciences, and is following new developments in what will become palaeontology, and is really beginning to question to creation myth - surely God can't have put fossils in the rocks as a test of faith as the local vicar believes - the fossils must be creatures that have become extinct. Over the next few years, interest in fossils increases hugely. After Mary discovers the skeleton of a 'crocodile' (actually an ichthyosaurus) more collectors come to Lyme and one in particular, Colonel Birch, takes a big interest in Mary - and she to him leading to a falling out between Mary and Elizabeth who thinks he's taking her for a ride...
Once again, Chevalier brings history to life - most of the characters within existed. This well-researched novel, coming as it does during the 150th anniversary of Darwin's The Origin of Species, is a treat from start to finish. I enjoyed all the explanations of the fossils - as Mary and Elizabeth self-educate on the subject, we benefit from that too. Told mostly in alternating voices between Mary and Elizabeth, it is a gentle tale, but not without its moments of drama. Although it considers all the Austenish concerns of friendship, marriage, manners and social mobility, the main thrust is that of women trying to be accepted in the man's world. Some of the Regency men may have been dinosaurs, there were enough enlightened ones to recognise the womens' contributions and ultimately this story celebrates their success. I think it's my favourite of her novels so far. (Book supplied by the Amazon Vine programme).
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LibraryThing member Knicke
The best part of this book, by far, is the amount of research that went into it and the description of the setting. I feel like I've been to Lyme Regis and walked all over its beaches. The plot is OK, somewhat predictable throughout, but the characters are multidimensional and relatively
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believable. Worth a look. Show Less
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
This is my first try with Tracy Chevalier, and I'm floored by the excellence I find. The book blurb doesn't come close to doing the story justice.
Chapters alternate the voices of the two main characters. Elizabeth Philpot stands out immediately by her practice of discerning which body part each
This is rich historical fiction. At the very beginning of the study of paleontology, society wrestles with the scientific and religious repercussions of these remarkable finds. Adding in the fact that two of the early finders are women, the theme of womens' place in society, and economic place as well, adds value on every page. These women's voices sound authentic to the times.
I'll be reading more of Chevalier.
Chapters alternate the voices of the two main characters. Elizabeth Philpot stands out immediately by her practice of discerning which body part each
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person "leads with." What a fascinating concept!This is rich historical fiction. At the very beginning of the study of paleontology, society wrestles with the scientific and religious repercussions of these remarkable finds. Adding in the fact that two of the early finders are women, the theme of womens' place in society, and economic place as well, adds value on every page. These women's voices sound authentic to the times.
I'll be reading more of Chevalier.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
I really enjoyed this fictionalized account of Mary Anning. The narrators of the audiobook were fabulous and definitely made this worthwhile to listen to. They had a separate narrator for each main character so you could truly see each character's perspective on the events. It was interesting to
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see these two independent women maintain their identities in a male-dominated society. I loved everything about this story! Show Less
LibraryThing member Luli81
"Remarkable creatures" is an unusual story about two English women in the XIXth century who become friends, even though they don't have anything in common. Not the same social background, one being extremely poor, the other mildly accommodated. One being a peasant who can barely write, the other
Even with all these differences, as years pass by, we follow these two lives which become irrevocably intertwined and witness how they become close friends and the only anchor to one another when disgrace strikes both of their lives.
Some would say it's a slow novel, not much going on, but I like the way the writer describes the characters, with so much depth and humanity. And they are not the typical heroines, perfect women with strong wills who achieve what they resolve to. Oh no, no no...they are imperfect in so many ways, jealous of each other, angry with the world and sometimes unfair. I also like the way they share a strange passion: to collect fossils on the English shores, meanwhile the whole community goes crazy about these strange pair walking unaccompanied on the beach searching for "stones" . I had not the slightest idea about fossils and I didn't get bored when the book got into details about them. I found the "hunting, cleaning and collecting" process fascinating, so don't be put off by some readers' comments regarding this issue, as Chevalier manages to make a potentially weary subject into an engaging one with her humble and natural style.
I was, in addition, delighted to learn that these characters were actually real people and that this story, even though a work of fiction, might come close to what their lives might have been like.
It has, in a way, awakened a new desire to visit this unknown region of the English coast, Lyme Regis, and to learn more about these two special women, unfairly neglected by their sex which deprived them of public recognition for their important role in the Theory of Evolution.
A special, quiet reading that will appeal to those sensitive readers. Don't miss it.
"We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back."
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cultured and refined. One being only 11 and the other 25 when they first meet. One being kind of an outcast for having outlived a lightning when just a baby, the other an "old" spinster, a woman who'll never marry because she is not attractive enough and too smart for the taste of any man.Even with all these differences, as years pass by, we follow these two lives which become irrevocably intertwined and witness how they become close friends and the only anchor to one another when disgrace strikes both of their lives.
Some would say it's a slow novel, not much going on, but I like the way the writer describes the characters, with so much depth and humanity. And they are not the typical heroines, perfect women with strong wills who achieve what they resolve to. Oh no, no no...they are imperfect in so many ways, jealous of each other, angry with the world and sometimes unfair. I also like the way they share a strange passion: to collect fossils on the English shores, meanwhile the whole community goes crazy about these strange pair walking unaccompanied on the beach searching for "stones" . I had not the slightest idea about fossils and I didn't get bored when the book got into details about them. I found the "hunting, cleaning and collecting" process fascinating, so don't be put off by some readers' comments regarding this issue, as Chevalier manages to make a potentially weary subject into an engaging one with her humble and natural style.
I was, in addition, delighted to learn that these characters were actually real people and that this story, even though a work of fiction, might come close to what their lives might have been like.
It has, in a way, awakened a new desire to visit this unknown region of the English coast, Lyme Regis, and to learn more about these two special women, unfairly neglected by their sex which deprived them of public recognition for their important role in the Theory of Evolution.
A special, quiet reading that will appeal to those sensitive readers. Don't miss it.
"We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back."
Show Less
LibraryThing member dylkit
I think I need to read a non-fiction account..
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2011)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2011)
Call number
FIC J Che