Remarkable Creatures

Product Information

New life is formed from extinction and death," wrote Darwin in 1838, in a private notebook. Some 20 years later, he based The Origin of Species on the fact that fossils document a continuum of life forms, demonstrating that millions of species died out as others took their place. A generation earlier, however, when Tracy Chevalier's rough-petticoated heroine was pulling out of cliffs in Lyme Regis the evidence that would go into this insight, nobody wanted to believe that God did not, as one of Chevalier's characters puts it, "plan out what He would do with all of the animals He created". I received this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley and Harper Audio. It was my pleasure to listen to and review this wonderful story!

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. In the end, it is the usual suspect, jealousy, that ends the friendship across a generation and a class divide. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot fall in love with the same man. It leads to the eruption of their other jealousies, of course, and the many things we think but never say come out of each woman's mouth. We see Cameron, a young man who can't get his shit life together long enough to keep a job or girlfriend go on a quest to find his deadbeat dad some free cash. When he arrives in Sowell Bay just in time to be a temp for Tova's job as a cleaner in the aquarium, these characters's stories intersect beautifully to create a heartwarming read that's wise and quirky. A wonderful portrayal of how to thrive in loneliness ❤️❤️

Book Summary

Historical fiction based on the lives of real people, amateur paleontologists Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, in the early 1800s in Lyme Regis, England. Elizabeth is an educated lady who has relocated from London, and Mary is a working-class daughter of an impoverished cabinet maker. They become unlikely friends, bonding over their love of fossils and searching for them by the sea. When Mary unearths a skeleton of what appears to be a large crocodile, it ultimately leads to their interaction with well-known male paleontologists of the day. The Publisher Says: A voyage of discoveries, a meeting of two remarkable women, and extraordinary time and place enrich bestselling author Tracy Chevalier's enthralling new novel It didn’t hurt that the book is set in my hood, a town near Seattle. I had to laugh—Tova doesn’t like to drive on freeways anymore. And she had to head to Bellingham, a (real) town two hours away. I’m the same age and I won’t drive on freeways anymore, either—and a friend moving to Bellingham was a disaster for me because I couldn’t drive to visit her. I loved that little similarity—funny that it was the very same town! Although Tova and I had age and a fear of freeways in common, I did not identify with her need to clean. But I can definitely see myself liking an octopus like she did.

The second woman is Anning's friend, Elizabeth Philpot, an educated woman who, being a spinster, relocated with her sisters to Lyme Regis after the death of their father. In fact, reading her story strongly reminded me of the sisters in Sense and Sensibility - and yes there even is a military man who plays a crucial role in the lives of both women. The narrators were absolutely great and the voice of Marcellus is just as I expected it would be, he is intelligent, a bit of a grouch but has formed a bond with Tova. Cameron's character was just the regular annoying, whiny kind of loser who blames everybody else for his "hard" life. We are constantly reminded how smart he is and yet the only way his smarts present themselves is through some random trivia. A 30 year old man who was raised by an aunt who made sure he had a roof over his head, rather than just being thrown into the system, who still blames his mother for all of his life choices and mistakes, is not someone I can feel sorry for. Grow up and get your act together ffs.

Success!

Even with all these differences, as years pass by, we follow these two lives which become irrevocably intertwined and witness how they become close friends and the only anchor to one another when disgrace strikes both of their lives. It was better written than I'd given it credit for originally, and I'd like to add this quotation to give a sense of her style. There have been lots of books between dogs and cats forming impressive bonds with humans. But this is the first that involves an octopus and a human. Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus. And he’s nearing the end of his expected life span. Tova is the seventy year old woman that cleans the aquarium where Marcellus is a prisoner, as he sees it. She’s a widow and her 18 year old son went missing decades earlier.