Remarkable Creatures

     The book Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier didn't hold much appeal when I read the synopsis on the back cover since dinosaurs and fossils aren't a huge interest of mine.  However, the book turned out to be a pleasant surprise.


Remarkable Creatures
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     This work of historical fiction tells of 2 English women who became friends in the early 1800s when the spinster Elizabeth Philpot and her 2 sisters moved to Lyme Regis where they could live in gentle poverty.  There Elizabeth met a genuinely impoverished young girl, Mary Anning and her family.  Even  with several years difference in their ages, they formed a bond that lasted for many years despite several ups and downs.

      Mary, a born "fossil hunter" who could locate dinosaur bones that others just overlooked, had to find bones to sell in a curio shop owned by her family.  Elizabeth wanted to search for fish fossils to display in a collection.  Mary taught Elizabeth a great deal about looking for "curies."  Together they worked to expose the first plesiosaurus and ichthyosaurus fossils ever seen in the world.

       One of the interesting aspects of this book is that it illustrates the view held by men toward women at that time..  Although they were interested in seeing the dinosaur bones found by Mary, since she was a female, she was given no credit for the work she did.  Some of the men tried to cheat her, and a few took credit for her accomplishments.

         Like The Girl with the Pearl Earring,  also by Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable Creatures has a gentle flow to it that makes for good reading.  In my opinion, the remarkable creatures aren't the fossils found by Mary and Elizabeth.  The really remarkable creatures are the two ladies themselves.

     So, remember the ladies.

                           Carol