Remarkable Creatures is the fictionalized account of two real fossil hunting women in the 19th century, Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. Mary is unmarried, uneducated and poor, searching for fossils on the beach in Lyme, England, to sell for money to buy the necessities of life. Elizabeth is of the class called the "genteel poor." She is unmarried, educated, intellectually curious, slightly cynical, and fascinated with natural history.
Elizabeth and her two other unmarried sisters move to Lyme to economize in their housekeeping. There, Elizabeth and Mary meet on the beach hunting for fossils. They become friends in a class conscious kind of way and Elizabeth encourages Mary to become more educated about the fossils she is so adept at finding.
Mary makes some remarkable fossil finds, including ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. These fossils find their way into museums and the hands of famous naturalists and cause quite a stir in the scientific world of that time. The creatures Mary found no longer existed, and were far older than 6,000 years old. Did that mean the Bible was wrong? The author addresses the religious issues that come up by skirting around the question of the authenticity of the Bible and instead choosing to show that it is possible to interpret Genesis in a metaphorical rather than literal sense.
The story has the feel of a Jane Austen type book, without the witty dialog. Social issues of the day, including intellectual property rights of women, were naturally brought to the reader's attention. There was a slightly clumsy attempt at romance between Mary and a male fossil collector, and a falling out between the two women because of it. With Elizabeth's intervention, Mary's reputation as an honest fossil hunter is saved from disrespect in the scientific community and the two friends are reunited.
I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it to readers of historical fiction. I want a fossil ammonite of my own.
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