New Books, New Posts

Since my last entries I have read another book with the idea of using it for the "Book Talk" and part of the independent reading project. The name of the book is "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier. I read a few Chevalier books a few years ago when she was riding her popularity from "Girl with a Pearl Earring" all of which I liked, I believe it was "Girl with a Pearl Earring" I read and "The Virgin Blue". I know both provided a fictional tale with an historical outlook but were decidedly fictional. Without thinking about it at all I sunk my teeth into "Remarkable Creatures" approaching the book as entirely fictional.

The book has a major theme of the feminine plight in regards to social standing, education and recognition in scientific arena's circa the early 1800's and provides a relatively bleak outlook for unmarried woman of limited means. The story is told in alternating chapters between an educated middle class London spinster and an adolescent lower class village girl of Lyme-Regis and the different vernaculars used to convey the position of each woman is so well done that you feel as though you are reading two different novels, that is until their stories begin to come together. The book begins with the story of Elizabeth Philpot, an unmarried middle class London woman of a certain age. Elizabeth and her 2 other unmarried sisters parents have died and although they are left with a small income it will not be enough to allow them to live in London. Their brother suggests a tour of the seacoast towns in England to find a place they deem suitable to live in. They decide on the holiday town of Lyme-Regis which is affordable but leaves them little expectations for socializing within their own class. Elizabeths decides quickly that her main passion and form of entertainment will be the collecting of fish fossils on the beaches of Lyme-Regis. While pursuing her new hobby she meets what will become the other main character of the book, the young Mary Anning, daughter of a local cabinet maker and sometime "Curie" or curiosity seller which is what the lower class deems fossils. While combing the beach Elizabeth and Mary develop a friendship and mutual respect for each other that takes them through the next few decades. During this friend ship Mary begins to discover creatures on the beach outside the realm of the regular shells, fish and fossils she normally finds on the beach.

What your not realizing as you read this novel is that at the time the concept of evolution has not yet been defined by Darwin and the possibility of species that haven't become extinct is not one that is just beginning circulation in academia and is resolutely dismissed by religious leaders. The idea of dinosuars has not even been considered and the mainstream belief is that the natural world has always been very similar to what it looked like in the early 1800's.

The main source of knowledge of the animal kingdom and the first person to consider extinction is a Frenchman named Georges Cuvier considered by many the father of zoology and paleontology. Elizabeth considers him the highest authority in the field of naturalism and looks to his works to further her own and to educate Mary in regards to scientific process.

One of the main themes of the book is how the lack of education held women back and therefore limited their contributions to the scientific world. Although the discoveries made by Mary Anning shook the foundations of naturalism, science and theology even today her name is little remembered outside of a few notes by the male scientists of the day and the local museums of natural history of Lyme-Regis.

Mary who has a gift of sight when it comes to fossils similar to looking for a four leaf clover in a bed of grass makes some startling discoveries on the beach. Mary discovers the fossil of an extremely large reptile-ish creature that they call a crocodile but know in there hearts is something very different. With Elizabeths help they extract the fossil and make some inquiries in the scientific community for the sale of the fossil because Mary Anning is supporting her family predominately through fossil collecting since her father died. This is the start of Mary being alternately sought out and used by the scientific community made completely up of men at the time. What you come to discover is that Mary is finding the first dinosaurs ever discovered on the shores of England and is quickly becoming the worlds preeminent expert of finding, identifying, extracting and preserving specimens in the world. Over many years Mary makes considerable findings that shake the foundations of the natural world and many men come from all over the world to work with and consult her, however being a woman, of the lower social order and uneducated Mary has little possibility of recognition of succes for her contributions and is only given them by the sheer willpower and work of Elizabeth Philpot to ensure Mary's payment when possible as well as some recognition for her contributions. More later.......