Gentle narrative that draws you in from the first word. I love a book that teaches you something new - I hadn't realised initially that Mary Anning was a real person and this made the story even more fascinating. A good story covering the debates brought about by the discovery of fossils, the position of women in the early 1800s and friendships. An excellent and very quick compelling read. ( )

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 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. ( )

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 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). ( )

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 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. ( )

This is a very well-written and absorbing tale of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, unlikely friends and allies of different social classes in the 1800s, but with one thing in common: their love of fossils and hunting for them on Lyme Regis beach.

There is a lot of factual information in the book but, even for someone such as myself who has little interest in fossils and rocks, this did not affect or hinder my enjoyment of the story in any way.

Tracy Chevalier is an accomplished writer of fact based fiction, as proved in her previous work, and this is another great example of the genre. ( )