The release date for the English version of 'Remarkable Creatures' by
Tracy Chevalier is Aug 2009. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
A brother and sister find the petrified skull of an unidentified animal on the cliffs on England's south coast in 1810. It may be mistaken for a crocodile due to its long snout and noticeable fangs, but it has a large, bulbous eye instead.
In the book Remarkable Creatures, Mary Anning—who had a gift for fossil hunting—tells the history of how her discoveries of extinct marine reptiles, including the ichthyosaur, shocked science and changed our understanding of how the world came to be.
However, Mary feels out of place in her field, which is dominated by middle-class males, given her working-class upbringing. She finds comfort in an odd connection with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly spinster from London who shares her interest for fossils, as she faces exclusion from her community.
Mary and Elizabeth's close relationship helps them get through hardships like poverty, jealousy, and exclusion, as well as the risks associated with their chosen preoccupation. It serves as a reminder that friendship is stronger than rage, envy, and even storms and landslides.