Remarkable Creatures

St Just Monday Morning Reading Group 24th February 2020.

Remarkable creatures. Tracy Chevalier.

The reading group, with unusual unanimity, all thought this was a very good book and enjoyed reading it. We found it interesting and readable, learnt a lot from it, identified with the characters, and thought it made a good tale, taken from historical facts.

We were interested in the way the book presented the dilemma about evolution, and what the fossils were and what they meant. Why did God create animals for which He then decided he had no further use? was the question it posed. The author did not enter into the scientific debate or the theories of evolution or of geology, but she did stimulate interest in the subjects, we thought.

The women in the story were marginalised, socially and intellectually, by reason of their gender; Mary Anning was also largely disregarded because she came from the working classes and had no education and little money. Elizabeth Philpot was seen as a lady and had some education, but as a spinster she had little status and was viewed as an eccentric by most people in Lyme. Both of these women, as their story progressed, grew in confidence as they grew in learning, and ended by making an impression on the academic community and having their voices heard and their views made known. Molly Anning also, Mary's mother, gradually took on the role of a businesswoman and made deals with the fossil buyers. These observations led the group to a further discussion about women's opportunities and how women's roles have changed over the last two centuries. Everyone thought the book made an interesting social commentary on how women were treated in this period.

We liked the writing style and the way the book ended in a positive way. And we'd like to read more of Tracy Chevalier's books in the future.