Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

[Readwine]

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Blurb from Publisher

[Mexicola]

Great review, Readwine. I rated this book 3.5/5. I'm a big fan of Chevalier and was hotly anticipating this book especially as I've a keen interest in the topic and the era.

 

I was disappointed, maybe I had built it up too much in my head. I did think it was a bit flat and it was lacking in.. something... (something that The Lady and the The Unicorn had in buckets). I felt that there was no real sense of time passing and without even realising it, several years had apparently gone by.

 

I think Chevalier could have done so much more with it. Having said that, it was an enjoyable read with some good characters.

[Easy Reader]

I found this book so endearing.

 

I thought the whole tone of the book was spot on. I loved how it switched between the two points of view of Mary and Elizabeth. I don’t normally like stories told from multiple points of view but in the case Tracy Chevalier couldn’t have got it more right.

 

I did think that whilst reading the book that I would have liked more to be made of the unjust treatment of women at the time but then when I finished the book I was glad that it wasn’t. The book could have easily consumed by Mary and Elizabeth being bitter for not receiving the accolades that were due to them and further more having others take the credit for their work. Focusing on the friendship between these and not the social ways of the day is for me what made the book so touching.

[chesilbeach]

I felt the relationship between the two women was very believable, and it was nice to see that it wasn't just a rosy picture painted of both their lives and their friendship, which suffers the strain you would expect from two people from different classes and in such a masculine world.

 

I agree that it wasn't Chevalier's best. For me, that would be Falling Angels, although The Lady And The Unicornalso rates highly with me, but this is still a very good story and one I enjoyed reading a lot.

 

Readwine, As far as the debate between religion and science that must have been active around the time of these discoveries, I'm glad she didn't take it any further. You have to remember that even now, Lyme Regis is a small town, and I don't think they would have felt the ramifications of these discoveries any where near as much as in London and Bristol, so the fact that Elizabeth even has a discussion with the Reverend about the subject is about as much as I think would have been possible for the characters to have been involved in.