By Tracy Chevalier
Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of my favorite books and, as a result, even though her later books haven’t been as good in my opinion, I always read a new Tracy Chevalier when it comes out. I have been waiting for the paperback version of this book for awhile and finally saw it so I bought it.
I like Tracy Chevalier’s books because for the most part they take something that is real like a painting or a tapestry and weave a story around it. Here, the story centers on Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, two real life fossil hunting women who lived in the early 1800s in Lyme Regis, England. They comb the beaches for fossils eventually finding some large specimens (aka dinosaurs) that challenge the scientific and religious teachings of the day. Through all of this Mary and Elizabeth develop a strong friendship important to both.
I doubted that I would like this book. I mean two spinsters searching the beach for fossils. Eh. Not really engrossing literature. I confess I did feel a bit bored with some of the extra long passages on science but they were few and far between and I do wish they had pictures of the dinosaurs which were talked about. (I ended up looking them up on Wikipedia.) Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. There is a lot of story in there and it was definitely a worthwhile read. I am sure Chevalier took some literary license when describing the events of these ladies’ lives but, eh, that is why it's called fiction.
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