#fromourbookshelves This is the re-imagining of the intersecting live of two women, from very different backgrounds: -Mary Anning, a young and uneducated woman, who had a gift for spotting fossils; in fact, her discoveries helped to fund her family. She was the first person to discover a complete pterodactyl (now apparently called a pterosaur). -Mary was championed by Elizabeth Philpot, an older woman with quite a prickly personality, who was an early 19th-century British fossil collector, amateur palaeontologist and artist. They were living in pre-Darwinian times, when women had to know their place and subjugate themselves within the rigours of male society. These two women were bound by a thirst for knowledge, pushing the boundaries with their discoveries and extrapolations, taking risks and facing the consequences. There is a brief love interest which upsets the narrative applecart a little but overall the story works well, each woman having her individual voice in alternating chapters. It is wonderful to see the lives of these women celebrated posthumously through fiction And coming soon is Chevalier’s latest novel The Glass Maker, set in Venice, one to watch out for! 12 September 2024 in the UK

I adored this book. I had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about fossils before this, I was never interested in that sort of thing as a child and it was only when I was half way through the novel that I actually realised that Mary Anning was a real person! I thought the story was beautifully written, it could have been such a dry subject yet Chevalier made it into a fascinating subject for me. I was left wanting to know so much more about Mary, about Lyme and about fossils as a whole. The slow-moving growth of the friendship between Mary and Elizabeth was so well done, two women so similar yet worlds apart in class. I loved the fact that Mary 'knew her place' yet still insisted on carrying on in this field - admittedly, it was purely for financial gain at first, but her love for what she did, and what she discovered grew so much. Mary and Elizabeth learned so much from each other throughout the novel - Mary passed on her skills and knowledge and Elizabeth passed on her academic learnings. There were some parts of the story that I felt were a little rushed and didnt fit so well - Mary's obsession with the drowned woman, and Elizabeth's experiences in London somehow just didnt feel right - but to be honest, they took nothing away from the story for me. I really enjoyed this.

A unique story with memorable characters, this book makes me yearn for a time when there were still dinosaurs to be found out there for anyone with the time and patience to hunt for them. I love how Tracy Chevalier takes real life people (I didn't realise they were real until the author's note at the end!) and makes a story out of their lives.

The remarkable thing about Tracy Chevalier is her historic accuracy and real skill of finding the perfect voice for those who we can no longer speak to. This beautiful story of Mary Annings life and finds along the Jurassic Coast is perfect for the summer and will make you want to visit Lyme Regis as soon as you put it down!

This book was recommended to me by a friend. i previously had no interest in fossils and thought that the book would bore me. However having previously read some of the authors other works, I thought I would perservere with it. I was pleasantly surpised to find the story and characters to my taste. The pace was good although a little hurried in parts. The main characters had depth and were easy to empathise with. Although some of the peripheral characters, such as Miss Elizabeth's brother and Mary's brother, were a touch under developed and added no real value as a result. All in all the story was engaging and well written. A good read.