I enjoyed this historical novel by the author of "Girl with a Pearl Earring".Set in the middle of the nineteenth century it tells the story of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot.
Mary is an uneducated Lyme Regis girl, who has a knack for finding fossils which she sells to tourists. Elizabeth is an educated middle-class spinster and a passionate fossil collector. The two women develop a relationship that oscillates between near love and terrible envy.
When Mary uncovers dinosaur fossils she sets the scientific world alight, and ideas about the creation of the world and human origins are challenged. But it's a male-dominated world and Mary, although she's an expert, is soon reduced to a serving role. Elizabeth fights for her to be recognised, but faces plenty of prejudice herself.
A good story that gives you loads to think about too.
Rachel didn't like it much, however!
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