Remarkable Creatures

by Tracy Chevalier

From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Anning is different. Though poor and uneducated, she learns on the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast that she has a unique gift: "the eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip - and the scientific world alight with both admiration and controversy. Prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster and also a fossil hunter, becomes Mary Anning's unlikely champion and friend, and together they forge a path to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Book Club, British Literature, Audiobook, 19th Century

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2009

About the author

Born:
19 October 1962 in Washington, DC. Youngest of 3 children. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.

Childhood:
Nerdy. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

Education:
BA in English, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1984. No one was surprised that I went there; I was made for such a progressive, liberal place.

MA in creative writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1994. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not you can be taught to write. Why doesn’t anyone ask that of professional singers, painters, dancers? That year forced me to write all the time and take it seriously.

Geography:
Moved to London after graduating from Oberlin in 1984. I had studied for a semester in London and thought it was a great place, so came over for fun, expecting to go back to the US after 6 months to get serious. I’m still in London, and still not entirely serious. Even have dual citizenship – though I keep the American accent intact.

Family:
1 English husband + 1 English son.

Career:
Before writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA.

Writing:
Talked a lot about becoming a writer as a kid, but actual pen to paper contact was minimal. Started writing short stories in my 20s, then began first novel, The Virgin Blue, during the MA year. With Girl With a Pearl Earring (written in 1998), I became a full-time writer.

Reviews

[MomToKippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my favorite things about Remarkable Creatures:

1) Bathing machines!


2) Fossils, of course.


3) A regency era book about friendship between two women, rather than the marriage of some rehabilitated rake and some nubile.

4) Elizabeth's characterization of people based upon what feature they "lead" with - eyes, hair, hands.

5) Fossils!

I enjoyed this book a lot more after I came across some information about who Mary Anning really was. At first, I did not realize this was based on the stories of real people and the amazing discoveries of two women inlcuding the first ichthyosaur skeleton correctly identified.

Very enjoyable and now I want to go to Lyme Regis with a little hammer and hunt for fossils.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I now know more than I ever expected to about fossil-collecting by English women during the Regency period.



This historical novel is somewhat loosely based on several people who actually lived, and either hunted or collected fossils, in England in the early 1800s. It alternates between the viewpoints of Elizabeth Philpot, a genteel spinster in reduced circumstances who moves to Lyme Regis by the sea (a hotbed for fossil-hunters) and discovers a passion for fossils, and Mary Anning, the daughter of a destitute cabinetmaker's widow, who supplements the family income by finding and selling fossils. Despite their differences in age and social status, the two form a friendship based on their mutual fascination with fossils that lasts for many years and survives some ups and downs.

I knew that Regency-era society had its fads and fascinations with ancient history, but fossils and the attendant religious controversy were new for me. (How can we believe in animals that are extinct if God never makes mistakes? How can we rationalize dinosaur fossils with the belief that the earth was created only a few thousand years ago?) Tracy Chevalier manages to address these questions without sounding too disrespectful of religious beliefs, other than those that advocate a very literal reading of the Bible's 6-day creation period story, allowing no room for debate.

The other major theme running through the pages of the book is the role of women. It was extremely difficult for Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot to get any respect or recognition for their accomplishments. And with all the Regency romances that are so popular, it's good to see a more realistic take on what women at that time could expect for love and marriage.

[She] sank into spinsterhood beside Louise and me.
There are worse fates.

I was mildly irked by one plotline that seemed like a modern imposition on Regency society (and there's nothing in actual history to support this part of the story):Mary and Elizabeth both fall for the same older guy. Mary hopes that he'll ask her to marry him, but eventually realizes that's simply not going to happen. After she figures that out, she decides to sleep with him just one time, just for the experience of having sex, because she's realized she's not likely to ever marry him or anyone else. It just seemed like late 20th century kind of thinking to me. If she'd slept with the guy hoping to get him to marry her, that would have made more sense for those times. Plus the guy is kind of a cad, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Overall, not quite as deep or fascinating or insightful as I would have liked, but still worth reading.

[Candi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable Creatures is a beautifully written book about two remarkable women, Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. A fictional account based on real-life characters and events, Remarkable Creatures is set in the early 1800’s in the coastal town of Lyme Regis, England. Poor, uneducated Mary Anning and middle-class, London-bred Elizabeth Philpot form what is considered an unconventional friendship, due to their differing social classes, based on their love of fossils and fossil hunting. Despite my extremely limited knowledge in the fields of geology and paleontology, I found this book fascinating.

The novel alternates back and forth between the points of view of both Mary and Elizabeth. I found this to be a very effective means for the reader to gain insight into the innermost thoughts of both of these women. Always lurking in the background is of course the restraints placed on both women due to their gender and their social class. Mary Anning was truly a gifted fossil hunter and yet she struggled to become recognized for her work due to being a female during these times. She was most definitely looked down upon as a result of her working-class status. Elizabeth Philpot, due to her middle-class standing, was able to champion Mary in certain social and scientific circles. However, Elizabeth was also limited in these circles due to her gender. Having gone to London to defend Mary at one point in the novel, Elizabeth, like all women at the time, was not allowed past the threshold of the Geological Society. Mary, perhaps due to her lower-class standing, found it easier to take risks and express her true feelings without caring what others would think. Elizabeth, however, was possibly more inhibited due to her more “elevated” position as a lady in society than was Mary. Elizabeth felt the need to show more decorum as was expected by society. The differences in the women’s own expectations and expressions of their needs and desires is perhaps what placed more of an eventual strain on their relationship than did the social conventions themselves. What appealed to me personally was their ability to grow as individuals, learn from one another, and find the true gift and meaning of forgiveness.

In addition to the scientific and social narratives in Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier also examines the religious significance of the findings of these fossils. The setting of this book occurs before Darwin’s The Origin of Species, at a time when scientific and religious thinking substantially clashed with one another. Uncovering the bones of animals that no longer existed on earth confused many people and raised complicated questions regarding God’s hand in the creation of the earth and its creatures. Would God create creatures to later bring about or “allow” their eventual demise? And what ramifications would this have on humanity itself? The scientific community as well as laymen and the clergy struggled with these questions. When Elizabeth Philpot challenges Reverend Jones with the theory that a certain fossil specimen “is an animal that God rejected in favor of a better design” the Reverend contends “All that you see about you is as God set it out in the beginning. He did not create beasts and then get rid of them. That would suggest He had made a mistake, and of course God is all-knowing and incapable of error, is He not?” and then later “God placed fossils there when He created the rocks, to test our faith”. Even the learned men in this novel struggle with these mysteries. Geologist and Oxford professor William Buckland says “I cannot see why God would want to kill off what He has created… Geology is always to be used in the service of religion, to study the wonders of God’s creation and marvel at His genius.” Despite his own fossil research and teaching position at Oxford, William Buckland remained uncertain and unable to reconcile his scientific and religious views. Additional debates ensued regarding whether the Bible should be interpreted literally or figuratively. I found these reflections to be quite thought provoking in many ways.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about fossils and fossil hunting regardless of current knowledge of the subject. Tracy Chevalier has inspired me to look further into the topic with some suggested further reading listed at the end of this novel. Even if fossils themselves do not arouse your curiosity, this is still a wonderful composition of a remarkable friendship that overcomes class struggles and personal conflicts, and a compelling glimpse at the impact of science on religion.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: 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 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.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner by Chevalier...I had never heard of Mary Anning and as I read this, it again dawned on me how many women have been erased and disappeared from history because of sexism and male prejudice during the times they lived in...Anning was a major paleontologist who was completely self taught, living in poverty, and discovered several important prehistoric fossils from the Jurassic period that challenged the conventional thinking of the time about creation, the age of the earth, and survival of the fittest 50 years before Darwin wrote the Origin of the Species.....It is even more amazing when one discovers she found some of her most famous fossils when still a child.....Her recognition for these achievements is taken from her by the wealthy male landowners and scientists who try to claim her discoveries for themselves ....Bravo to Chevalier for making the unknown known about this remarkable intelligent women and the ongoing strength of her supportive friendship with another fossil hunter, Elizabeth Philpot.

[Bionic Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the moment Great Britain has a bit of fossil mania. Dinosaur and fossil stamps have been issued by the Royal Mail, the Royal Mint is matching them with dinosaur commemorative coins, and the Natural History Museum is finding a welcome surge of interest in their fossil gallery. The reason for this is that the fossil skull of the biggest pliosaur ever yet known, was discovered a few months ago in Dorset. Thought to be a new species, it has been dubbed the “Tyrannosaurus Rex of the seas”.

I’ve been following all this with great interest. A few short years ago, I happened to be wandering around the small caravan park on the Dorset Coast where I spend my summer, admiring the view. Occasionally I would smile at the bijou little garden plots with their pretty flowers and quirky gnomes, when I was brought to a sudden stop. Ammonites! There were dozens of these beautiful spirals placed round one caravan plot, all carefully extracted from the crumbling cliffs, but still in their rough state. Here was a fossil hunter for sure. There were all sizes, some of which must have been very hard to carry back, and many different types of ammonites too (there are around 10,000 species). But why place them here, all around the caravan and its hard standing? Were they an overflow from home? Or did this fossil hunter use the caravan as a workshop, to prepare the fossils for sale or for their own collection? Fossil hunters and fossil collectors are two very different “species” themselves, as one of the protagonists in this book makes clear:

“That’s how fossil hunting is: It takes over, like a hunger, and nothing else matters but what you find. And even when you find it, you still start looking again the next minute, because there might be something even better waiting.”

Or alternatively:

“he was a collector rather than a hunter, buying his knowledge rather than seeking it with his own eyes and hands.”

Intrigued though I was, I shrugged and carried on walking. When personal space is small, you soon learn to respect others’ privacy. Friendly though everybody was, there was an unwritten rule not to disturb people here.

When Remarkable Creatures was first published in 2010, the novel also captured my interest. This story is set in Lyme Regis in Dorset, a town which I know very well as it is just along the coast from my caravan. The cliffs on the coastline there are crumbling daily, so new fossils keep being exposed. In fact David Attenborough became involved in the huge fossil pliosaur skull discovery, and presented a programme on BBC on New Year’s day where he oversaw the extraction. The difficulty was in not bringing even more of the cliff down - and thereby wrecking the fragile fossil too. It made for nail-biting viewing, and also set people wondering just how many more immense skeletons lay hidden in the cliffs.

People have found fossils intriguing for centuries, although they often did not understand what it was they had found. Only in the Victorian age did science begin to advance theories, but this novel is set when George III was on the throne, and the war between the British and Napoleon’s French army was at its height. Mary Anning, born in 1799, ten years earlier than Charles Darwin, was in at the start of the new developments in scientific discoveries did she but know it. In 1813 Georges Cuvier published his “Essay on the Theory of the Earth” in which he not only showed that many fossils were the remains of extinct animals, but also postulated that there had been many catastrophic events in Earth's history which had caused extinctions. However it was not until 1859 that Charles Darwin was to publish his thoughts about evolution and natural selection in “On the Origin of Species”. It was hugely controversial even then, despite its popularity.

But in the early 1800s many people still regarded fossils with suspicion, calling the ammonites which Lyme Regis is especially rich in, “Ammon’s horn” and the belemnites “devil’s fingers”.

Tourists were flocking to seaside towns such as Lyme Regis, holidaying near home rather than going abroad, during the Napoleonic Wars. So fossil hunting suddenly became all the rage for fashionable Georgians, seeking to add to their “cabinets of curiosities”.

Little Mary Anning, at just 5 or 6 years old, had a talent for finding “curies”, the fossil curiosities sold to these Lyme tourists, when accompanying her father on the beach. While still very young she sold them in front of their shop, to help the family’s finances. It seems an extraordinary activity and talent for a Georgian girl. Her father was an amateur fossil-hunter; a cabinet-maker by trade, but not a very successful one. In fact Jane Austen had once asked him to mend a chest for her, but his estimate was too high. She was not to know that Richard Anning’s daughter would gain the reputation of being the greatest fossil hunter of all time, would be a hero in Lyme Regis and have a long-overdue statue erected to her in 2023. It is even Mary Anning who is the origin of the tongue-twister “She Sells Sea Shells on the Sea Shore”.

Remarkable Creatures is based on her life. As a baby, Mary survived being hit by lightning, which people said made her strange and extra clever. But she was uneducated, although she was able to read, and was able to teach herself geology and anatomy. Moreover her family were religious dissenters - Protestants who had separated from the Church of England - and extremely poor. Out of nine or ten children, only Mary and her older brother, Joseph, survived to adulthood. Her father died suddenly in 1810, from tuberculosis, and Mary’s “curies” became a crucial part of the family’s finances.

Just a few months later, when Mary was 12, Joseph found a strange-looking fossilised skull. But his brief excitement wore off; he preferred life indoors, and took up a post as an apprentice upholsterer instead of spending the day scouring the beaches with his sister. It was Mary who had “the eye”, and who searched for and painstakingly dug out the outline of its 5.2-metre-long skeleton.

“It made me feel odd looking at that eye, like there was a world of curiosities I didn’t know about: crocodiles with huge eyes and snakes with no heads and thunderbolts God threw down that turned to stone. Sometimes I got that hollowed-out feeling too when looking at a sky full of stars or into the deep water the few times I went out in a boat, and I didn’t like it: it was as if the world were too strange for me ever to understand it.”

Word got round, and after a few months, everyone in town knew that little Mary Anning had discovered what must have been a monster. And not all of them approved. She did not know it, but Mary needed a champion. She found it in Elizabeth Philpot, one of the visiting tourists, who was soon equally smitten by fossils:

“For myself, it took only the early discovery of a golden ammonite, glittering on the beach between Lyme and Charmouth, for me to succumb to the seductive thrill of finding unexpected treasure.”

Remarkable Creatures is told through two voices, both important historical characters, but it is the older middle-class spinster whose voice dominates the novel. Elizabeth Philpot’s situation is itself reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel. We read how she and her two sisters are sent away from London by a married brother, to live more cheaply elsewhere. They settle at Lyme, and develop various interests. We follow each sister’s story, but it is Elizabeth’s collecting of fossils which interests us, not one sister’s botanical pursuits, or the other’s increasingly desperate flamboyant forays into fashion to gain a suitor.

In the shorter alternating chapters we hear from Mary, with her remarkable ability and dogged persistence to learn exactly what she has discovered, making detailed accurate drawings of the fossils, preparing them with meticulous care and cataloguing her finds. It is Elizabeth Philpott in the novel, who shows her which books to read, and how to present her findings thus in the acceptable scientific way. She herself develops an interest in fossil fish, and Elizabeth Philpott’s fossil fish collection is now in Oxford.

We follow the lives of this unlikely pair, both to some extent outsiders in their societies, seen as odd, and even more so in their friendship which crosses classes, and with a gap of 20 years. Educated, analytical Elizabeth is all too aware that society is critical and that she no longer fits into provincial Regency life. But she encourages the young girl to read about geology and understand the science behind the fossils she collects.

“Mary Anning and I are hunting fossils on the beach, she her creatures, I my fish. Our eyes are fastened to the sand and rocks as we make our way along the shore at different paces, first one in front, then the other. Mary stops to split open a nodule and find what may be lodged within. I dig through clay, searching for something new and miraculous. 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.”

We see that in turn Elizabeth learns much from Mary; how to develop the eye, how to find, to clean and preserve, and feel for the fossils. This last detail is conjecture of course. Though based on fact, Remarkable Creatures is a novel.

As such it is a riveting read, and one of my favourite modern popular novels. The timing is well observed. Local people then seemed blind to what we now see as obvious differences in species. When Elizabeth pointed out major differences between Mary’s “crocodilly” and modern crocodiles, the local landowner explained:

“It’s simple, Miss Philpot. This is one of God’s early models and He decided to give subsequent ones smaller eyes.”

But even in that he was treading on dangerous ground, and Mary’s local minister looked on her finds as abominations, and the idea that God could have created something not yet perfected inconceivable. The age of the Earth as calculated by Bishop Ussher was 6 thousand years. Mary would do far better to study her Holy Bible and stop questioning her finds. Elizabeth was also beginning to realise that most people would rather call the animal a crocodile than consider the alternative: “that it was the body of a creature that no longer existed in this world”.

But the great William Buckland was both an English theologian and also a geologist and palaeontologist, and he was impressed by Mary Anning and her finds. In this novel he supports her whenever he can, and spreads the word about her so that scientists flock from London to see Mary Anning’s discoveries.

The story includes several other figures from history, to great dramatic effect. In 1823 Mary Anning suffered a great shock when Georges Cuvier accused her of fraud, although this is eventually disproved. Mary had been the first to discover the complete skeleton of a plesiosaurus, (meaning "near to reptile"). But it was so strange and different from any species that had been discovered before, and the news had spread so quickly, that there were soon rumours that the fossil was a fake. Georges Cuvier doubted that an uneducated young woman could have uncovered, cleaned, and prepared her find so precisely. A special meeting was scheduled at the Geological Society of London, although Mary Anning was not invited. After lengthy debate, Cuvier admitted his mistake. Amazingly this part is historically accurate; it is on record.

Another shocking part of the book is when Elizabeth now estranged from Mary because of a romantic disagreement over Colonel Birch, who had befriended both females for their fossil-spotting abilities, but who dropped Mary for a female of his own class, as Elizabeth had said he would sees Mary’s ichthyosaur on display in London. Mary had painstakingly cleaned and presented the ichthyosaur, but it had been sold on a couple of times and found its way into an entertainment gallery, its back clumsily broken to make it look more like a crocodile, and wearing a monocle and waistcoat.

I do not know if this part was true, but William Bullock was certainly a showman, and his Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was a popular exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to house his collection and put on various spectaculars. His collection included anything he considered exotic enough to attract the crowds, such as as stuffed elephants and the like, and included curiosities. The Egyptian Hall was later used for popular entertainments and lectures, and became known as “England’s Home of Mystery” because of its association with magic and spiritualism.

This was certainly not the correct venue or way to display an important fossil find. The specimen was removed, studied and debated for years, before eventually being named ichthyosaurus, or "fish lizard". (In fact though it was neither fish nor lizard, but a marine reptile, living 201-194 million years ago.)

The scientific community remained hesitant to recognise Mary Anning’s work, although she continued to unearth fossil after fossil, still having to sell her many finds to get enough money to live. A scene where Elizabeth Philpot manages to persuade William Buckland to let her sit secretly outside the door, listening, when the meeting to discuss Mary’s new discovery at the Geological Society of London takes place makes dramatic reading.

“Although we kept the door ajar so that we could hear, we could not see beyond the gentlemen standing in front of the door in the crowded room. I felt trapped behind a wall of men that separated me from the main event.”

Females were refused admittance to the Geological Society of London until 1904.

But Mary Anning would not be ignored, even if others took her finds, and the previously unknown specimens kept coming. In 1828 she uncovered a strange jumble of bones, with a long tail - and what seemed incredible - this one had wings. News travelled fast, and scientists in London and Paris theorised on this “unknown species of that most rare and curious of all reptiles”. What she had found were the first remains attributed to a dimorphodon: the first pterosaur ever discovered outside Germany. (The name “pterodactyl” was coined later.) Unlike ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, pterosaurs had wings and were believed to be the largest ever flying animals.

Despite all these important scientific discoveries, Mary struggled to make a living all her life. She had helped others to make their names, and in 1830 the famous geologist (and childhood friend) Henry De la Beche painted “Duria Antiquior - A More Ancient Dorset” selling prints to raise money for Mary. Complete with ichthyosaur, plesiosaur and pterosaur this was the very first example of palaeoart: a representation of prehistoric life based on fossil evidence.

Mary Anning was to die at just 47 years old, and still in financial difficulties despite a lifetime of extraordinary scientific discoveries. Surely this could not happen today, we tell ourselves. Females are not banned from attending Geological Society meetings, nor are people in our society denied education. But attribution is still fraught with danger.

Do you remember that caravan with all the fossils laid out on the hard-standing? Well the story proves a curious one. It is owned by a Philip Jacobs, an avid fossil hunter who lives in the village. Back in April 2022, he was on the beach at Kimmeridge Bay with his partner, when he spotted what he at first thought was an odd-looking rock. But when he looked closer, he could tell it was the snout of a pliosaur. Too big and important a find for him to dig out himself, he buried it, marked the spot with some driftwood and went for help.

David Attenborough’s excavating project revealed a 2-metre (6ft 5in) skull from the cliffs, with a team led by the expert Steve Etches, and which is now on display at the Etches Museum in Dorset. All well and good. But what credit was initially given in this fascinating documentary to the person who had discovered it? None. Just a vague mention of an unnamed “fossil enthusiast”.

Thankfully two world-renowned palaeontologists raised objections, saying that Philip Jacobs deserved a huge amount of credit, not only for making the discovery but for ensuring that this new 150 million year old fossilised pliosaur was saved for science. The BBC apologised, edited their film, and now he is properly credited, as he is in the museum.

Mary Anning’s discoveries too are accorded their correct place in museums, although it seems poignant that it has taken until exactly 223 years after she was born, for a bronze statue to be erected to her in her home town. Striding purposefully with a fossil in one hand, and her geological hammer in the other, she is accompanied by her little dog Trey. Mary Anning’s statue is now placed looking out over the bay on the Jurassic Coast, where she made so many of her amazing discoveries.

Here are the chapters:

1. Different from all the Rocks on the Beach - Mary Anning
2. An Unladylike Pursuit, Dirty and Mysterious - Elizabeth Philpot
3. Like Looking for a Four-Leaf Clover M
4. That is an Abomination
5. We Will Become Fossils, Trapped upon Beach Forever
6. A Little in Love with him Myself
7. Like the Tide Making its Highest Mark on the Beach and then Retreating
8. An Adventure in an Unadventurous Life
9. The Lightning that Signalled my Greatest Happiness
10. Silent Together

[da AL · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeously written story about fossils and friendship. Its rare gentleness makes it truly beautiful. The two audiobook narrators do an incredible job as well.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Anning was one of those women in history who was not appreciated in her time and was given little or no credit for her remarkable talents. She was an uneducated person with a unique talent for finding prehistoric bones of extinct creatures in the cliffs around her home in Lyme. Her friend, and someone who did indeed recognize Mary’s skills, was Elizabeth Philpot, a spinster with higher rank in society and a much higher education level. Together, they contributed greatly to the scientific knowledge that led to an important shift in how men viewed God’s creation and how they viewed themselves within it.

The facts of this story are augmented with very realistic suppositions as to the rest of the story. Chevalier has almost certainly gotten much of it right, and with the rest her guess is as good as an informed guess could be. This is historical fiction at its finest. All the characters, real and imagined, are painted with a deft hand and ring completely true. It was inspiring to see how these two women carved out unique places in the society that disapproved of them simply because they wished for more than being a wife and mother. At this moment in history, intellectual property was the purview of men, and if you have ever been treated with condescension from a person who knew less than you did on a subject, you will feel the frustration of these characters as they attempt to deal with the men who usurp their accomplishments. If you have ever earned anyone’s true respect, you will also feel their triumphs.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel, as I have done with several other of Chevalier’s works. Even if you don’t think you have any interest in fossils and the history of life, you will find something worth your time here. What Chevalier is unearthing is really the history of man.

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, fossil collectors in England in the first half of the 19th century. Their gender and social class kept them from receiving the credit and recognition they deserved for their discoveries. Historical fiction with great characters and a very interesting subject. Tracy Chevalier is one of the best writers today in this genre.

[Maria Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuando el otro día vi este libro en la librería, no dudé ni un segundo en decidir que quería leerlo. Tanto la portada como la sinopsis me llamaron mucho la atención. Y, desde ya, felicito a la autora por la ardua tarea de documentación que se necesita para escribirlo. El por qué, entonces, le pongo 3 estrellas es muy simple: porque soy lectora de romántica y me ha faltado romance. Así de sencillo. Ahora, en cuando a puntos fuertes, debo decir que me ha gustado mucho leer sobre esas mujeres que por X motivo no se casaban; qué pasaba con ellas, tanto emocional como socialmente.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/8/21- The other night we watched Ammonite which I understood to be the film of the book. I thought it was a travesty of both the book and of Mary Anning’s life. I now know that it’s not based on the book which is a relief but also sad because it’s unlikely that a movie will be made of the book.

Mary Anning is a woman. She is a spare part. Thus speaks Lord Henley in this excellent fictional account of Mary Anning’s life, the early days of commercialised fossil hunting, and the popularisation and development of the science of geology. I couldn’t have stood being a woman in the early 19th century, with no voice of my own or at least not one that any man would listen to or take seriously. Mary’s lack of education and social standing meant that she had no voice at all but her knowledge of fossils and where to find them became highly respected despite that. When the film is released, Mary’s fame will spread far more widely than she could ever have imagined and rightly so.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the format, with Mary and Elizabeth Philpott, Mary’s champion and fellow fossil hunter, narrating alternate chapters. It was fascinating to learn about the history of fossil hunting and the early development of theories of extinction. The latter were often couched in terms that the Church would find acceptable as otherwise their proponents would have been vilified in some quarters. It’s a really interesting subject and not one I’d previously given much thought to at all.

4.5 stars. I would have given this 5 stars but I thought the scene when Birch came and whisked Mary off on his horse to seduce her on a bed of apple blossom was quite absurd and totally unbelievable. I kept flicking back through the pages to see if it was a dream sequence but sadly it isn’t.

[Joy D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fiction based on the lives of real people, amateur paleontologists Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, in the early 1800s in Lyme Regis, England. Elizabeth is an educated lady who has relocated from London, and Mary is a working-class daughter of an impoverished cabinet maker. They become unlikely friends, bonding over their love of fossils and searching for them by the sea. When Mary unearths a skeleton of what appears to be a large crocodile, it ultimately leads to their interaction with well-known male paleontologists of the day.

The narrative alternates perspectives between Elizabeth and Mary. They are based on real people and Chevalier writes them into life, complete with obsessions and idiosyncrasies. The two women face a number of obstacles, including a male-dominated society that minimizes the role of women and church officials that do not support the concept of extinction. The reader can feel a sense of injustice when Mary is not even given credit for discovering the skeleton. The period is portrayed beautifully. I particularly liked how the authors shows the tremendous gap in scientific knowledge at the time the fossils are initially discovered.

This book weaves together history, science, unconventional women, and a solid storyline, so it is no surprise that I enjoyed it tremendously. It vividly portrays the thrill of discovery and inspired me to research the people behind the story. I have read three of Chevalier’s novels and this one is my favorite by far.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Anning was a most remarkable woman from the moment she was struck by lightning as a baby and survived. She was certainly different, spending her time as a child with her father searching for fossils along the English seacoast around the town of Lyme Regis in the early 19th Century. She was poor and uneducated as a working-class girl, but she had "the eye," the talent to spot fossils that no one else could see. Her family was able to make a small business selling Mary's fossils, all marine animals which had lived at some time in the distant past, how distant no one could comprehend.
When Mary and her brother uncovered an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near Lyme Regis, she shook the scientific world and posed a challenge to religion. The creature was named an "ichthyosaur," ("fish-lizard") and it was a creature that had been totally unknown to science and, apparently, no longer existing on Earth. But if the creature had been created by God, why had God caused or permitted it to go extinct? That was a question that could not be satisfactorily answered, as it implied that God had made a mistake. And how could God make a mistake?
Tracy Chevalier's novel about Mary Anning is also about another woman--the genteel older woman Elizabeth Philpot. Despite the class and age differences between the two women, they became close friends as they shared their passion for collecting fossils. So this is not only a story about a woman who made invaluable contributions to science, but a story about the bond of friendship between two women.
Elizabeth proved to be a true friend as she championed Mary to the scientists of the Geological Society in London. Mary could so easily have become a forgotten figure in history, as she was not credited for her finds by the men who bought and displayed her fossils. Mary did get mentioned in scientific papers and the scientist Louis Agassiz named fish species after both her and Elizabeth. A Philpot Museum has been set up in Lyme Regis to help keep alive the memory of both women. Mary Anning died at the age of 47, in the year 1847. Elizabeth Philpot lived to the age of 78, dying in the year 1857. " On The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin was published two years later.

[Chrissie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finished: I am glad that is over! I think I chuckled maybe once. The prose was stilted. I have never run into such a bunch of miserable souls. A huge disappointment. I absolutely adored this author's book Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Through page 183: Ahhhh, I am laughing. The two main woman characters are jealous of each other, and it's quite amusing. Of course a man is invoved. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are two real people and the two central characters of the book. The story is told alternately through their voices. The problem has been that Elizabeth has been so dammed level-headed that its been driving me niuts. A little jealousy is good for them. They finally feel like real people! Better late than never!


Through page 175: Half way through the book and finally something exciting has occurred. I will not say what! Much of the book is about the religious consequences of fossil discovery. If fossils were in fact the remains of animals that no longer existed, this implied that God had made animals that were not perfect. Furthermore the creation of the earth as described in the bible had to be questioned. Such religious consequences and the proper place of women in socity are the two main themes. All is very well depicted, but now, after 175 pages, this is the first time my heart has been beating rapidly. It is only now for the first time that I am emotionaly moved.

Through page 105: Well written, but sorry, it is not grabbing me! It is rich in period detail and gives a good description of social mores of provincial life in a small English resort town at the beginning of the 1800s. So why don't I like it more? I don't know!

Maybe read the non-fiction bookThe Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World if I want more after reading Remarkable Creatures. OrCuriosity!

[Antje · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know, this book is not great literature but for some reasons I really enjoyed it and will count it to my favourite bokks. The story is about Mary Anning, who lived in Lyme Regis and since she was a girl uncovered fossils of at the time unknown creatures. Elisabeth Philpot, an educated woman from London,was forced to move to Lyme Regis with her sisters, because in the family was not enough money for all the sisters to marry. She started to hunt for fossils as well and despite their diffrent age, Elisabeth was about 20 years older then Mary, and their diffrent background, Mary came from a workers family, they became companions and friends.
The book is not just an intresting feature about the ideas about the world's creation and our origins in that time, but it is about friendship between two very diffrent women and how they fight for recognition in a scientific world, dominated by men. Apart from that, if anybody is intrested in fossils and geology, this is a nice way to start.
For me, it was specially intresting, because I live in the areaand will be able to go to Lyme Regis to follow Marys and Elisabeths traces.

[Olive Fellows (abookolive)]

This makes me so sad. I really and truly thought I was going to adore this book. I love the subject matter, but this book is so stiff and feels like a slightly (and I mean very slightly) more animate version of a Wikipedia entry on Mary Anning.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Anning, the daughter of a cabinet-maker and fossil collector in Lyme Regis, was responsible for finding many Jurassic age creatures, unknown to science before. Elizabeth Philpot, who came from a completely different social background and was at least twenty years Mary’s senior, but shared her interest in fossils (herself she collected fish fossils) befriended her and the two who collected fossils together made their fair share of contributions to science. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier is a fictionalised telling of the story of these two remarkable women and the remarkable creatures they were responsible for finding in a time when women weren’t seen as “capable” of having an interest in science, much less making any contributions to it. Chevalier tells the stories of these two women in first person, alternate chapters being told my Anning and Philpot. Anning was struck by lightning as a child which made her stand out, and later when she began to collect fossils, she becomes seen as even more strange by the rest of her town. When her father dies, she needs to focus more on this task as “curies” are what bring their family a living. But unlike her brother Joseph who only accompanies her because they need to make money, Mary is genuinely excited by her finds, and interested in uncovering more. Elizabeth Philpot has moved to Lyme with her sisters when their brother marries. Each of them takes up a different hobby based on their interests—for Elizabeth, this is fossil collection. She meets and befriends Mary and each of them help the other in different ways. While this is a piece of fiction, and a lot of aspects, the scenes, the conversations that took place, the romances are imagined, some of the broad historical elements are real-life.

I’d heard about this book years ago when I read a joint review of this one and Shelley Emling’s The Fossil Hunter, both of which focus on Anning, but I only managed to pick it up now (the Emling I still don’t have a copy of). And I’m glad I finally got to it—this was one I really enjoyed. I really liked how the author gave each of these ladies a voice that seemed somehow to really be theirs—it seemed to capture what their thought processes could have been like, given their stories and backgrounds, so it might seem that one really is hearing their stories, views, as they would have told them. They each had their struggles, especially with their interest being seen as strange and not very “normal” by the others in town while those who could understand, the men of science, wouldn’t attach as much to their contributions because they were women. Yet, they have the interest and the strength to carry on, to live life on their own terms. Their romances, differences and jealousies are imagined but still fitted into the general plot pretty well. I would have liked if the author/publisher has included illustrations of the actual fossils (there are a couple at the beginning of the chapters) in the book, so that one could have seen them as one read on (rather than looking them up online, I know I’m being lazy there). But other than that I really really enjoyed this one. A great read!

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3★ Updated July 2016
It was better written than I'd given it credit for originally, and I'd like to add this quotation to give a sense of her style.

The story opened with such promise and this description of how Mary was affected by being struck by lightning as a baby.

“The lightning killed the woman holding me, and two girls standing next to her, but I survived. They say I was a quiet, sickly child before the storm, but after it, I grew up lively and alert. I cannot say if they’re right, but the memory of that lightning still runs through me like a shiver. It marks powerful moments of my life: seeing the first crocodile skull Joe found, and finding its body myself; discovering my other monsters on the beach; meeting Colonel Birch. Other times I’ll feel the lightning strike and wonder why it’s come. Sometimes I don’t understand, but accept what the lightning tells me, for the lightning is me. It entered me when I was a baby and never left.”

For me, it fell flat after that.

Original review - - - - -
I'd rather give it 2 and a half stars. It was an interesting way to learn about the fossils discovered by Mary Anning and her relationship with Elizabeth Philpott, but for me, the fictionalised account of what might have been the rest of their story wasn't equally interesting.

The author certainly writes descriptively enough about the coast, the people and the wild weather to make you glad you're not out there digging with them, being lashed by wind and rain.

There is only so much I care to read about the spinster sisters' genteel poverty (well, somewhat reduced circumstances by London standards) and which one wore which turban to what dance. The same goes for Mary's extremely poor family living in dire circumstances. I began to feel as if the story were being padded, not that I was learning anything new.

The gentlemen who pass come and go, inspecting, ordering, and dealing in fossils, were not particularly interesting, nor was the very brief romantic involvement (part of the fiction, I believe the author said) that was presumably added for colour. I'm sure many of these men were very real, and I assume the correspondence would be there to prove a lot of what happened. Mary Anning never really got the credit she deserved.

I think I'd have liked it better as a much shorter work, though. I'll be curious to see what they did with the movie.

[BrokenTune · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We had heard about the girl struck by lightning, for people still talked of it years later. It was one of those miracles small towns thrive on: children seeming drowned then spurting out water like a whale and reviving; men falling from cliffs and reappearing unscathed; boys run down by coaches and standing up with only a scratched cheek. Such everyday miracles knit communities together, giving them their legends to marvel at. It had never occurred to me when I first met her that Mary might be the lightning girl. “Do you remember being struck?” Margaret asked. Mary shrugged , clearly uncomfortable with our sudden interest."

Many thanks to Autumn for introducing me to this alternative version of Harry Potter.

I am kidding, of course, but the thought of Mary Anning as a real-life HP using fossils as portkeys to be transported into a time so different that it might as well just be another world did appeal to me for quite some time.

Tracy Chevalier (author of Girl with a Pearl Earring) created a fictional account of the friendship of two women who not only existed in real life but who also changed natural history as we know it. And all this decades before Charles Darwin would publish that little known tome about the the origin of species.

So, who, I hear you ask, are the two women?

Well, the first one is Mary Anning, whom the Natural History Museum introduces as follows:

"The greatest fossil hunter ever known was a woman from Lyme Regis. Mary Anning's discoveries were some of the most significant geological finds of all time. They provided evidence that was central to the development of new ideas about the history of the Earth.
Mary Anning’s contribution had a major impact at a time when there was little to challenge the biblical interpretation of the story of creation and of the flood. The spectacular marine reptiles that Anning unearthed shook the scientific community into looking at different explanations for changes in the natural world. William Buckland, Henry de la Beche and William Conybeare were some of the many scientists who owe their achievements to her. By the time of her death, geology was firmly established as its own scientific discipline."

Not a bad feat for a woman who was a contemporary of Jane Austen's at a time when women were not allowed to contribute to scientific journals or indeed even enter the clubs and societies that were available for the scientifically minded.

What is even more astonishing is that Mary Anning had little education and spent most of her early years in abject poverty.

The second woman is Anning's friend, Elizabeth Philpot, an educated woman who, being a spinster, relocated with her sisters to Lyme Regis after the death of their father. In fact, reading her story strongly reminded me of the sisters in Sense and Sensibility - and yes there even is a military man who plays a crucial role in the lives of both women.
Anyway, spurned by the move to Lyme Regis, Elizabeth becomes a fossil collector, too, and befriends Mary.

"How can a twenty-five-year-old middle-class lady think of friendship with a young working girl? Yet even then, there was something about her that drew me in. We shared an interest in fossils, of course, but it was more than that . Even when she was just a girl, Mary led with her eyes, and I wanted to learn how to do so myself."

The story that Chevalier creates of the friendship of the two women is truly magnificent. The difference in age and class causes many obstacles for women to communicate and there are major rifts between them, which left me wondering how they would cope, how they would resolve their differences. And in the end, whether they would manage to be able to rely on each other when everything they had worked for was put at risk and depended on their friendship.

"I had discovered from conversations I’d had about fossils with the people of Lyme that few wanted to delve into unknown territory, preferring to hold on to their superstitions and leave unanswerable questions to God’s will rather than find a reasonable explanation that might challenge previous thinking. Hence they would rather call this animal a crocodile than consider the alternative: that it was the body of a creature that no longer existed in the world. This idea was too radical for most to contemplate. Even I, who considered myself open-minded, was a little shocked to be thinking it, for it implied that God did not plan out what He would do with all of the animals He created. If He was willing to sit back and let creatures die out, what did that mean for us? Were we going to die out too?"

Review first posted at http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve just recently read a non-fiction book about Mary Anning (The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World by Shelley Emling) and I was anxious to read this fictional account of Anning’s life before the details had faded too much in my mind. Chevalier sticks to the big, important details, but takes the liberty that those who write fiction often do, to write in drama and make a better story.

It’s always a tricky business, writing fiction about real historical figures. I appreciated Chevalier’s depiction of the friendship between impoverished, working class Mary Anning and genteel spinster Elizabeth Philpot. It was a real friendship, made across class boundaries and well documented in the written records of the time. What either woman was actually like personally is an unknown quantity (to me at least), but well filled in by Chevalier.

The official record doesn’t offer much drama beyond Mary and her family being on the edge of going to the poor-house most given days. Very suspenseful if you are experiencing it, but not the most riveting plot for the reader. So I completely understand why Chevalier creates the rivalry between the two women for the attention of one un-noteworthy man. Still, it disappoints me. One the main ribbons running through this book is the changing role of women during this time period—getting recognition for their minds, not just their appearances, and loosening some of the conventions that bound them to child-rearing and household roles. Both of the main characters and all of the marine reptiles are indeed remarkable creatures.

Some details are extremely fictional—there’s no indication that Mary’s mother, Molly, ever set foot on the beach or ever searched for a fossil. She was only reluctantly won over to fossil selling as a way of earning cold, hard cash. I know Mary’s dog, Tray, was killed in a landslide, but I don’t think that Mary herself was caught in it (although it made good, dramatic sense in this version). I also wish that Chevalier had captured more clearly the intellectual achievements of Mary and the expertise that she drew on to educate many of the fossil-hunting men who came to her for assistance. There was definitely an auction by Lieutenant-Colonel Birch to fund the Anning family, but no indications that it was Elizabeth who shamed him into it or that he was romantically involved with either woman.

In short, this was an enjoyable, dramatic telling of a famous woman’s life, but don’t take every detail as gospel. As they say of movies, “Based on a true story.”

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of historical fiction. I enjoy reading history enough that I worry about getting the historical fiction confused with the history. But there is a benefit: historical fiction can open my eyes, get me interested in a time, the people and events, of which I previously knew little. There is much to appreciate in Remarkable Creatures. You get to observe and consider the lives of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, their friendship, their support for one another, their jealousy of one another. You learn what an amazing person Mary Anning was with no formal education, the expertise she develops in paleontology and the reputation she earns. She and Elizabeth accomplish what they do in the face of the gender discrimination of the time that forces women into very limited, tightly defined roles and ignores them as capable of contributing intellectually. The class barriers are just as big a problem. Mary Anning, being a woman that is part of a poor, barely surviving family faces all these challenges. Mary’s mother, Molly, is in her own right just as unique and strong as her daughter.

But for me the most intriguing aspect of the story, which was set primarily in Lymes Regis, England in the first quarter of the 19th century, was the capturing of that moment in time when there is a shift in the questions that scientists and other intellectuals are asking. Are these fossils animals that are no longer living? If so, why, and does that mean that God, their creator, is not perfect? Do the fossils that are being discovered mean that the earth is much older than currently thought? You get to experience these transformative thoughts that frighten people and eventually change the world in which we live.

When science is incorporated into fiction as in this novel, it can bring the science alive for me in ways that just reading about the scientific development does not.

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

During the covid-19 shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, I have tried to make a concerted effort to clean-up some of my to-read pile (or rather and more to the point to thin out a bit my simply humungous to-read mountain) and in particular to review and then to finally mark as "read" at least some of the very many books I perused either before joining Goodreads in 2009 or after joining Goodreads but for which I have for various reasons never bothered to post a review (and which all still do appear as "to-read" on my Goodreads shelves).

So and indeed, one of the many novels languishing on my to-read shelf although I had actually read it years ago is Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (a historical fiction offering on Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpott). And yes, judging from the extensive and rather vehemently critical notes I had jotted down in 2012, when I originally read Remarkable Creatures, I obviously had not at all enjoyed this story and mostly it seems because I was having huge and all-encompassing textual issues with Tracy Chevalier's writing style and her (in my opinion) lacking sense for and methods of characterisation, as almost ALL of my notes clearly point out that I for one did not find Chevalier's split voiced narrations from conversely Mary Anning's and Elizabeth Philpott's point of views in any way either all that readable or personally relatable, and yes, that the presented pettiness and bitterness of the featured characters had obviously also bothered me so much that I in fact in 2012 did not actually finish reading Remarkable Creatures but had decided to abandon it unfinished, majorly annoyed and also much personally frustrated.

And honestly, if your entire reading time is being spent infuriated by a given writer's style and narration methods, and if you thus cannot even read about the main characters presented (or how they present themselves in a first person narration) such as was obviously the case for me with regard to Remarkable Creatures without grinding your teeth in anger and seeing proverbially red, then in my opinion, it is obviously and of course best to cut your reading losses and to consider something else for your perusal (and to equally choose just one star as your average ranking, which I have certainly now done with Remarkable Creatures but to also not bother trying the novel again, as I honestly doubt that I would find Tracy Chevalier's writing any more to my tastes a second time around, because to tell the truth, split voiced narrations I often and even generally do not really enjoy all that much anyhow, and they pretty well will have to be really and truly wonderful, spectacular and totally amazing to change my mind, to wow or awe me, and Remarkable Creatures has most certainly not in any way even remotely achieved this).

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book, or learned something about Mary Anning, before I went to London. I saw her picture and the fossils she discovered at the Natural History Museum in London without ever realizing what a remarkable accomplishment it was. She was a poor, uneducated, working class girl whose family survived by selling "curies" (curiosities), small fossils found on the beach in Lyme Regis. She finds what she considers crocodiles with fins, but are really the first pterodactyl and ichthyosaurus discovered. If these had been uncovered by an educated or upper class man, he would have enjoyed fame and fortune. But, unmarried women in the early 1800s had little voice and no respect.

This a book of historical fiction, so we do know that Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpott lived off the coast of England and searched for fossils in the early 1800s. Their accomplishments are well documented. What is conjecture is the story of the difficulties they faced at a time when women needed a man to communicate with the world. It is the story of following your passion and the redemptive power of friendship. These women could never have known that they were challenging the accepted science and religion of the time. The book talks about some of the conflicts they faced as they discovered things that contradicted their fundamentalist religion.

I enjoyed the description of the way they cleaned and preserved the fossils. I found this book very interesting and would definitely recommend it.

[Patricija || book.duo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Tik būtybės čia nepaprastos. Blanki, prėska knyga – ne idėja, oi ne, tiesiog jos išpildymu. Veikėjai jokie – moterys vienodos, net jei skiria jas, ypač tuo laikmečiu, šviesmečiai – statusas, išsilavinimas, netgi amžius. Vyrai sutartinai lopai, todėl tai, kad dėl jų kyla protingų moterų konfliktai – iš viso pažeminimas ir niekalas, pataikavimas. Idėja – nuostabi, negirdėta, įdomi, intriguojanti, gerai autorės išskaityta, išsinagrinėta. Tai kodėl šitaip nuobodu? Toli gražu nesu naujokė, kai kalba eina apie Chevalier kūrybą, netrukdo man nei jos lėtumas, nei subtilumas. Bet čia tik iš pagarbos autorei stūmiausi toliau – tikriausiai įdomiau ir greičiau būtų buvę tiesiog veikėjų (pagal tikrus žmones sukurtų!) Wikipedią pasiskaityti. Net tada, kai jiems vyksta milžiniški, neįtikėtini dalykai, kai autorė priartėja prie gyvenimą keičiančių išgyvenimų, jie praeina be jokio emocinio virptelėjimo – ai, ant tavęs užkrito krūva akmenų ir gulėjai po jais, kol tave išgelbėjo, o šalia bičas užsilenkė? Ne, judam toliau. Bet šeivamedžių šampės gaminimas? Leisk, papasakosiu per tris puslapius.

Čia galėjo būti krūvos iš klasinės neteisybės kylančių gelmių ir prasmių, subtilus to laikmečio feminizmas, rimti šeimyniniai konfliktai, milžiniškas niekam nereikalingos, visuomenės atstumtos moters skausmas, sudėtingi emociniai portretai, didelis „mokslas vs. religija“ sprogimas. Bet čia arčiau vadovėlio. Tais metais atradom tą, po to aną, po to supratom, kad čia buvo tas, o ne anas, o čia skaitot apie x, y ir z, po to apie juos skaitysit dar 20 kartų. O ta meilės istorija, niekinė ir absurdiška, autorės pačios prie veikėjų pritempta, man pasirodė iš viso savo nuobodumu ir nuspėjamumu nepagarbi, kai kalba ėjo apie tokias protingas, tokias įdomias moteris. Ar vienintelis būdas apie jas papasakoti, apie jų didingą, įdomią, širdis jungiančią draugystę parašyti knygą, yra vis tiek per vidurį įterpti kažkokį lopą diedą? Nusivyliau, ypač lygindama su kitais autorės kūriniais. Bet taip pat buvo ir su „Žiburiais“, tai gal Chevalier yra labai hit or miss reikalas?

[SoulSurvivor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong 4.5 rating . First book I have read by this author , but not the last . Started it dubious , but ended up satisfied and even enchanted . On the verge of historical fiction .

Update 12/21/20 : I upgraded this book to a 5-star from a 4 because it continues to come up in conversation when talking about historical fiction. It isn't on the verge, it is historical fiction. I have also recommended this book too much to keep it at 4-stars. I'm afraid it remains in my category of 'almost-favorite' because my favorites are too special to invite this one in.

[Lyuda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story that blends actual people and events in a work of fiction.

Until this story, I had no idea who Mary Anning or Elizabeth Philpot were and how important their work was in the discovery of prehistoric creatures. Their discoveries at the beginning of the 19th century came at the time when many tried to explain or reconcile geology with their religious beliefs when very idea of extinction was anathema because it suggested that God was imperfect. What are these creatures and why don’t they still exist? Is it possible that God made a mistake with these animals? Take this exchange between Reverend Jones and Elizabeth Philpot:

“So every rock we see is as God created it at the beginning,” I persisted. “And the rocks came first, as it says in Genesis, before the animals.” “Yes, yes.” Reverend Jones was becoming impatient, his mouth chewing an imaginary straw. “If that is the case, then how did the skeletons of animals get inside rocks and become fossils? If the rocks were already created by God before the animals, how is it that there are bodies in the rocks?”

Set in Lyme-Regis, on the Southwest coast of England at the beginning of the 19th century, the story alternates between viewpoints of Mary Anning, a poor and uneducated daughter of a cabinet maker, and Elizabeth Philpot, a genteel spinster two decades Mary's senior. Chance brings these two women from different generations and social classes together, and through their mutual love of fossils they become unlikely friends.

As an amateur rocks and fossils collector myself, I felt great affinity to both women in a way they described the actual “hunt”:

To me, looking for curies [ fossils] is like looking for a four-leaf clover: It’s not how hard you look, but how something will appear different.

That’s how fossil hunting is: It takes over, like a hunger, and nothing else matters but what you find. And even when you find it, you still start looking again the next minute, because there might be something even better waiting.

I think the title Remarkable Creatures is not only refers to the discovered fossils but the women who discovered them. Barred from the all-male academic circles because they are women, they faced harsh climate and difficult social constrictions of the times. Their resilience despite society's desire to marginalize them is what made them truly remarkable. In this novel, Ms. Chevalier makes their worlds come alive. I am so glad that I met them.

[Annelies · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first place, I wanted to read this book because it handled about Mary Anning and her pioneering role in discovering and her knowledge in finding fossiles and some pre-historic fossilised animal skeletons in the nearness of Lyme Regis, England. It gave a good and quite truthful (however romanticised) release about her life, her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot and her findings. It also gave a good picture of the knowledge of geologists about fossils and fossilised skeletons. How much we have accepted nowadays that life developed in many stages and that some pre-historic sorts are extinct, it wasn't evident in early 19 th century. The work of Mary Anning played an important part in discovering them and led to a important discourse in palaeontology.

Very interesting to read, you really get transported to 1820's Lyme Regis, you get some interesting facts about palaeontology on the top and the telling was all right. So a good 4 star book.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been curious to read a Chevalier novel, but none of the subjects really appealed to me. Enter "Remarkable Creatures"--a book that I was primed to love. England (check!), Dinosaurs (check!), The Ocean (check!), The Conflict Between Science and Religion (check!), Strong Women Doing Awesome Things Despite Their Obnoxiously Patriarchal Society (check!). Too, I'd recently read some picture book biographies of Mary Anning and loved the idea of a young girl making fabulous fossil discoveries for the scientific world. I was so eager to "read" this when my turn came at the library (I got the audiobook version which, while not the best I've listened to, was still quite well done).

I ultimately didn't love the storytelling as much as I had hoped to. I'm honstly not sure whether my existing affinity for the subjects made me like the story more than I would have done otherwise, or whether I had such expectations I couldn't help but be disappointed. I do think Chevalier is a capable storyteller, and I thought she handled the split narratives (the story is told alternately from Elizabeth's perspective, then Mary's) remarkably well. It's really a fascinating story if you are interested in the progression of people's understanding of dinosaurs and/or the conflicts between established religious beliefs and new scientific discoveries.

Ultimately, though, I just wasn't that caught up in the characters--which surprised me! I was also surprised to find that I enjoyed Elizabeth's narrative more than Mary's. I do think they were fascinating women, and I completely admire what they did and am glad they are finally winning the recognition they have so long deserved. And I think Chevalier certainly gave them distinctive voices. But, in the end, I just couldn't picture myself sitting down to tea with them and having a good time. And interesting time, oh yes, but I'm not sure how much I would have laughed or felt much in the way of kindred spirits. The secondary characters also didn't impress me much. My favorite was William Buckland and I wish he'd been in it more! I do think the story captured the angst of women who were trapped by circumstance, lack of beauty, or just ill luck, into the ranks of spinsterhood. And how, if they are lucky, they fall in love with their hobbies, allowing their pursuits (in this case, for fossils and science) to become their passions.

Chevalier does a fine job of smoothly incorporating many historical figures into the narrative, though her Author's Note mentions that she had to condense the timeline quite a bit and that she also took some artistic license with some of the relationships. I must say that I was not particularly fond of her interpretation of the course of the relationship with Mary and Col. Birch. I was also frustrated with some of the changes in the friendship between Mary and Elizabeth--I am not sure whether this was true or artistic license, but I certainly hope that these otherwise thoughtful women would not be quite so silly and petty.

It's difficult to say more without revealing spoilers. Overall, I would recommend this book to those with an interest in the subjects but am not sure it will win over anyone who isn't interested in taking long walks along the beaches of Lyme Regis looking for fossils day in and day out.

For a more detailed review, one containing minor spoilers, be sure to check out this lovely one from the UK's "Telegraph":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/bo...

[Dolors · Rating 5 out of 5]

"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 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."

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens when you discover something that could change your worldview forever? Does the world stop?

No, of course not, life goes on, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Remarkable Creatures focuses on two women who search for fossils - one so she can eat, the other out of curiosity. When they find a fossil that contradicts religion's view of the origins of the earth, the practical appreciates the money and added business fame brings and the curious are concerned, dissatisfied by the priest's response, but keeps going in the hopes of finding an answer. Meanwhile, they are women and are lucky to get any official recognition for their discovery. They'd also appreciate a response to their questions.

Tracy Chevalier does a wonderful job of taking true events/historical people and placing them in their cultural and societal constraints, exploring their world and that world's significance to the characters. Yes, it's made up, though based on fact and research, but it's also a revealing look at history through the eyes of those who lived it. If only all history texts could do that.