HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Loading...

Remarkable Creatures (original 2009; edition 2010)

by Tracy Chevalier

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,2172264,102 (3.86)439
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.… (more)
Member:bettewhitley
Title:Remarkable Creatures
Authors:Tracy Chevalier
Info:Dutton Adult (2010), Hardcover, 320 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:**
Tags:None

Work Information

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (2009)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 439 mentions

English (213)  Spanish (5)  French (5)  Italian (2)  Dutch (1)  All languages (226)
Showing 1-5 of 213 (next | show all)
I really enjoyed Girl with a Pearl Earring so I was disappointed that I just couldn't get into Remarkable Creatures. It was a slow read for me ... kept waiting to get excited by the fossil finds but it didn't happen. ( )
  ellink | Jan 22, 2024 |
Told in two main voices: that of Mary Anning, poor and illiterate, who has a knack of finding fossils in the rich beaches of Lime Regis, and Elizabeth Philpot, older middle class spinster who becomes her friend and sometime protector. The story tells of Anning's input to the world of fossil hunting and Evolution, in a time when women were not recognised for their scientific contributions, and when the idea of Evolution was still new and considered to be blasphemy.
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
Tracy Chevalier’s story of two real-life fossil-hunters in early 19th-century England reads like a Jane Austen novel, which isn’t surprising since Lyme Regis, a place visited by Austen early in the nineteenth century, is where and when this tale is set. It’s not an edge-of-your-seat page turner, but this historical fiction is worthy of your time.

Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot were remarkable, as were the relics found by both women. They were extraordinary women for their times and Mary, in particular, found fossils that baffled experts of the day. That bafflement is expressed well in the novel; in addition, Chevalier highlights the difficulty in reconciling the existence of skeletons of unknown and probably extinct creatures with the Creationist philosophy that was prevalent at the time.

Chevalier chronicles the possible relationship between Mary and Elizabeth, highlighting their presumed differences and similarities, as she speculates on how known historical events would have played out from the perspective of each of the women. Both women were unmarried, one genteel and one too poor to be strictly genteel, and both were interested in fossils. Mary was around twenty years younger than Elizabeth, but still one would expect they ran into each other a lot, both while fossil-hunting and while conducting business in daily life in their small town. Chevalier presumes that both women lived lives of some despair, having failed to marry, but I prefer to think they lived boldly and without regret. Perhaps they had no time for regret.

One note about reading: this is told in first person, alternating between Mary and Elizabeth, and the narrator is not named; one has to read a bit before recognizing from the context and vernacular of the narrator which of the paleontologists is speaking.

As with all historical fiction, the facts are the framework but license is taken in building relationships; approach the book with an open and curious mind, and follow up with your own research into the lives and times of Mary and Elizabeth as well as their colleagues. The author gets you started on your research; keep going past the last chapter of the novel and you’ll find a summary of the life and death of each of the women, as well as information on family members and colleagues.
  CatherineB61 | May 31, 2023 |
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier was an impulse read when I found it browsing at the library. The novel tells the story of Mary Anning, an early fossil hunter in Lyme Regis. Her discoveries of creatures that no longer exist seem to question church teachings. Chevalier tells the story from two perspectives: Anning herself and a fictional ally named Elizabeth Philpot. Their friendship--with its ups and downs--forms the core of the story. These women struggle to make their way in a world dominated by men. ( )
  witchyrichy | Apr 30, 2023 |
Mooi boek over de levens van twee vrouwelijke fossielenjagers, begin 19e eeuw. Gebaseerd op bestaande personen en feiten. Hun ontdekkingen brengen de godsdienstige overtuiging een ander perspectief. Schiep God de aarde in 6 dagen, of is "dag" de aanduiding van een langere periode? Waarom stierven sommige dieren uit? Een foutje in de schepping of een probeersel van God? ( )
  elsmvst | Jan 31, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 213 (next | show all)
Unless you have a deep and unabiding passion for fossils, you'll want to leave this specimen alone.
added by Shortride | editUSA Today, Donna Freydkin (Feb 2, 2010)
 
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 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.
 

» Add other authors (8 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Chevalier, Tracyprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lyons, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morahan, HattieNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Parry, CharlotteNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
This is for my son, Jacob
First words
Lightning has struck me all my life.
Quotations
'but dying was no drama. Dying was cold and hard and painful, and dull. It went on too long. I was exhausted and growing bored with it.'
I felt like a stocking turned inside out.
Then I opened my eyes, and it feels like they haven't been shut since.
I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil, a little jolt that says, "Yes, Mary Anning, you are different from all the rocks on the beach." That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning, and that difference, every day.
Mary Anning leads with her eyes.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

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.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
From the moment she is struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear that Mary Anning is different. Though poor and uneducated, she discovers on the windswept beaches of the English coast that she has a unique gift: "the eye" to spot fossils that 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 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 uncommon 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.

Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster recently exiled from London, who shares her passion for 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 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, it is a revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship. [adapted from the jacket]
Haiku summary

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Tracy Chevalier's book Remarkable Creatures was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.86)
0.5
1 8
1.5 1
2 40
2.5 11
3 187
3.5 94
4 440
4.5 78
5 176

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,189,855 books! | Top bar: Always visible