What We're Reading: Cathy

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier.

"She sells sea shells down by the sea shore." We grew up hearing this rhyme but I don't think any of us realized it was referring to a real person. The person was Mary Anning and she lived in Lyme Regis on the south shore of England. This is the story of how she came to be one of England's best fossil hunters, supplying such scientists as Charles Lyell, Georges Cuvier, William Buckland of Oxford University, and many others. Mary, with the help and support of Elizabeth Philpot - a woman of higher rank and education - struggled not only to find these "monsters" or "crocodiles" as they called them at first but also against the sexism of the time. Women weren't supposed to go out alone or get dirty or have "ideas" or even allowed to go into places like the Geological Society. Mary and Elizabeth formed a life-long friendship that helped change how people understand the history of the world.

If you like this book, you might also try Tracy Chevalier's other books based on historical people: The Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Lady and the Unicorn, and Burning Bright and also Rebecca Stott's Coral Thief which takes place in Paris and concerns Georges Cuvier's museum and fossils.