Remarkable Creatures

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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 ❤️❤️ Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world. Thank you to *Cheri* for her wonderful review who first turned me on to this priceless quirky novel.

Stars. This was a charming story about family, friendships, loss, grief, aging, loneliness, unlikely connections and moving on. The story is set in a small town overlooking Puget Sound, Washington State. This story begins 1,299 days after Marcellus was captured, after he’d been taken from his home and robbed of his freedom, and left in this small space, surrounded by glass walls. He’s fed, and observed through the glass that surrounds him by various people throughout the days, but he longs to return to his home. To be free. Periodically he manages somehow to escape, but is always found by Tova, who makes sure the boss isn’t aware of how often she finds him . When Mary and her brother uncovered an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near Lyme Regis, she shook the scientific world and posed a challenge to religion. The creature was named an "ichthyosaur," ("fish-lizard") and it was a creature that had been totally unknown to science and, apparently, no longer existing on Earth. But if the creature had been created by God, why had God caused or permitted it to go extinct? That was a question that could not be satisfactorily answered, as it implied that God had made a mistake. And how could God make a mistake?The other night we watched Ammonite which I understood to be the film of the book. I thought it was a travesty of both the book and of Mary Anning’s life. I now know that it’s not based on the book which is a relief but also sad because it’s unlikely that a movie will be made of the book. Tova works in the town's aquarium and is still grieving about her son she lost at sea years ago, presumed dead and ruled a suicide. Tova has doubts about the unanswered questions surrounding the mystery of her son's death. Elizabeth realizes she has a passion for fossil hunting, and as she and her sisters settle into their new home, she spends much of her time on the beach looking for unusual specimens. It is here that she meets Mary, who has been an avid fossil hunter all her life, and from then on the two meet frequently to search together. They are often seen walking along the beach with their eyes down, oblivious to all else.

In addition to the humans, there was the most original and wonderful POV; the bright octopus. It was a delight to read those chapters. I actually cried after reading about the last thing he did for Tova and she for him. How many authors are able to make you cry because of an octopus? Marcellus McSquiddles, a giant Pacific octopus who is held in Sowell Bay Aquarium (and a bit of a curmudgeon) begins the story narrating his life in captivity. He has a special relationship with the nightly cleaner, Tova Sullivan. Tova is a widower whose eighteen-year-old son went missing over thirty years ago, and she still feels the loss daily. Tova is an excellent cleaner who takes her job seriously. She’s seventy years old and is on the verge of retiring. Yet she loves all her exhibits of sea life.She has no living family and keeps to herself, except for occasional meetings with three women her own age, the Knit-Wits. One of the women can no longer cope with some household tasks and is moving away to live with her daughter. This makes Tova realize that this would not be an alternative for her without any living family members. While growing older, she plans to sell her house, get rid of years of belongings, and move into an upscale senior-care facility. My advice if you plan to read this novel: lay down any expectations of elegant prose and intricate character development in all but the two main players. And even there, don’t get crazy. This is a simple, mainstream novel, with an interesting sea creature twist. It’s a beach read, or a palette cleanser in between meatier works. Sorry, but them’s the facts. Mary Anning was born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, a town on the southern coast of England, and her passion for fossil collecting began at a young age. Her father, Richard, collected fossils on the Dorset coast to sell to supplement his income as a cabinet maker and help support the financially struggling family. Growing up, Anning accompanied her father on his quests to find fossils. After he died unexpectedly in 1810, Anning continued to collect fossils to help pay off the family’s debts. I now know more than I ever expected to about fossil-collecting by English women during the Regency period.

The greatest fossil hunter ever known was a woman from Lyme Regis. Mary Anning's discoveries were some of the most significant geological finds of all time. They provided evidence that was central to the development of new ideas about the history of the Earth. Shelby Van Pelt (tons of talent), is going to have her challenges following up with her next novel…but I don’t doubt for a second that she won’t continue to surprise readers again and again.

Before writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA. This is not a fast-moving story. The pace of the narrative mirrors the pace of life of the women in this time. You really get a feeling of their situation and their place in society and all the challenges. I loved the prose. It was so strong and steady. It never wavers. It invites you to keep reading and reading and following these women. The main narrator of the story, Elizabeth Philpot, is someone I would want to know. I found her so likable. And I also loved Mary and had a great deal of sympathy for her as well.