Curiosity

Decades before Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, Mary Anning (1799-1847) grew up in Lyme Regis--a coastal town in west Dorset--and as a child collected fossils, selling them as "curiosities." Joan Thomas's novel follows much of Mary's early life as she makes her initial discoveries and learns of their significance. As word of the fossil discoveries spreads, an assortment of cranks and genuine scientists follow in the path she forges. But Mary saw little benefit from her discoveries. The 19th-century scientific community had no problem buying the artefacts from her for a fraction of their value, but in the learned papers that appeared she did not even rate a footnote. The richness of historic detail and Thomas's fluent show more prose brings her characters alive and provides a revealing glimpse into a life that was both harrowing and heroic. For Mary Anning, recognition came late and emotional fulfillment was elusive. But Thomas has fashioned a fascinating tale of a woman's quest for knowledge at a time when women were expected to let men do the discovering. show less

I'm only half-way through this lovely library loan, but this to me is a book of exceptional beauty and understanding. As I understand it, Mary is based on a real character in Dorsetshire at Lyme Regis (oddly, a place that has popped up twice in my reading this year--in Paui Theroux's Kingdom By the Sea being the nonfiction representation, in which he refers to it also as the locale for An Officer and a Gentleman) in about 1820. It's a wonderful period piece with modern sensibilities putting on the stand the rivalry between churchy and Darwinist forces to account for the 'dragons' in the nearby cliffs. Mary is finally given her historical due when at the time most of the men, self-professed experts trying to locate Noah's bones in case show more The Flood left him and his followers there, tried to claim expertise and discovery for themselves. Plenty of erudition and full character development awards the reader. A beaut.

Finished. This is a book I won't forget, but I suspect many won't love it as much as I do. I just thought the characters were very well drawn, and the slow love between people of different classes was handled very well. show less

A fictionalized account of the life of Mary Anning, discoverer of many important fossil specimens in and near Lyme Regis, many of which are credited to the wealthy men to whom she sold the finds. Thomas has obviously taken some liberties with the historical record here, but the story works well and the writing is lovely.

So interesting! Mary Anning, a real-life person, was such a collector of fossils that she became an expert on them. The book is a fictional account of her life, struggling as a poor family, and selling the "curios" to make money. In alternate chapters the story of Henry De La Beche is told, an unconventional illustrator who shares Mary's fascination with the fossils. Their stories do combine, hence the "love story" subtitle. What makes this book really fascinating for me is the conveyance of the debates going on in the scientific community at the time -- men like Cuvier and Lamarck offering different explanations for how there came to be fossils of creatures no one had ever seen before, and what may have happened to those fossils. A show more book that incorporates Biology! Right up my alley.

The writing in the book is also excellent -- details that are poetic without being stifling; narrative manoevers that move the story forward with speed but don't make you feel like you missed large chunks; and language that incorporates the historical terms without alienating an intelligent reader. Genius. I think this book, long-listed for a 2010 Giller, should have made the short-list. show less

what a wonderful novel! thomas did a great job evoking the time and the setting, and conveying the challenges mary anning faced. to me, there seemed to be slight dabblings in the realm of magical realism - mary being struck by lightening, her father's perceived protection from the cliffs, and anning using her senses to gain knowledge (where might a specimen be found? is henry home?) - but while these facets of the story were very interesting, they didn't really get explored as much as i would have appreciated. (and i am not one who has really had success in reading magical realism before (a couple of exceptions), so the fact i noticed this and wished for a bit more is a little surprising to me.)

i loved the image thomas created of show more anning, in her skirts and black top hat scouring the cliffs and shore for specimens. i really could picture the scene, and anning, so well. there is a line in the story that really stood out to me: "Oh, she's a history and a mystery, our Mary." while i know only a little bit about anning, i hope that thomas' fictional portrayal is embraced and enjoyed by many readers. anning did not receive the recognition she deserved in her lifetime, given the divide between men and women, as well as the class divide, and anning's lack of formal education and training.

so, this book is definitely a tribute to a remarkable woman and i am so glad i finally took the opportunity to read it! show less

Undecided 2 or 3 stars. Somehow this just seemed ... thin. The premise sounded very interesting, based on an actual woman who discovered some extremely significant fossils in an era where she got no credit at all, but the characters seemed flat and the story got progressively duller and just petered out.

Curiosity gave me a detailed, true to life picture of Mary Anning and her discoveries. I had thought of her as a well-to-do Victorian woman with time and energy on her hands, who dabbled in digging for fossils. As the saying goes, nothing could be further from the truth. Her hard, hard life scrabbling for fossils to sell to support her family, without any academic recognition, is a tribute to her incredible perseverance. I found Joan Thomas' writing slow going (dull)but understood in the end that the style derived its almost numb quality from the main character herself.