Remarkable Creatures

(Paperback)

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It is a stunning story, compassionately reimagined Guardian

Tracy Chevaliers stunning novel of how one womans gift transcends class and gender to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century.

A revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship.
In the early nineteenth century, a windswept beach along the English coast brims with fossils for those with the eye

From the moment shes struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Anning is marked for greatness. When she uncovers unknown dinosaur fossils in the cliffs near her home, she sets the scientific world alight, challenging ideas about the worlds creation and stimulating debate over our origins. In an arena dominated by men, however, Mary is soon reduced to a serving role, facing prejudice from the academic community, vicious gossip from neighbours, and the heartbreak of forbidden love. Even nature is a threat, throwing bitter cold, storms, and landslips at her.

Luckily Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly, intelligent Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster who is also fossil-obsessed. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty and barely suppressed envy. Despite their differences in age and background, Mary and Elizabeth discover that, in struggling for recognition, friendship is their strongest weapon.

Reviews

It is a stunning story, compassionately reimagined Guardian

Chevalier recently stated that making fossils sexy was one of her chief aims in writing Remarkable Creatures. With this very entertaining book, she has certainly succeeded Telegraph

Very entertaining and informative The Times

The backdrop of shifting evolutionary ideas finds a rueful echo in Chevaliers tender portrayal of two extraordinary women who refuse to be constrained by society Sunday Telegraph

An enthralling novel of female friendship and fossil hunting
Woman & Home

An extraordinary tale about two 19th century women who attempt to alter ideas about creationism with their discoveries of dinosaur fossils Daily Mirror

Involving themes of friendship and the hidden world of women as much as the excitement of discovering the fossils significance, Remarkable Creatures is itself a find Metro

Chevalier shows her skill for working historys lost individuals into far-reaching fiction Good Housekeeping

Author Bio

Tracy Chevalier is the author of ten novels, including At the Edge of the Orchard, Remarkable Creatures and Girl with a Pearl Earring, an international bestseller that has sold over five million copies and won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. Born in Washington DC, in 1984 she moved to London, where she lives with her husband and son.