A minutely observed historical novel about Mary Anning, a working class woman who became a leading fossil hunter in Lyme Regis on what is now known as the Jurassic Coast of Southwest England. The novel is turned in alternating first person chapters by Mary and Elizabeth Philpot, a middle class spinster who accompanied Mary on her fossiling--also a historical figure but one about whom little is known so most of the account of her is imagined by Tracy Chevalier. The women's relationship is seen from each other's perspective, a relationship that crosses class lines between two women both of whom were unusual in being women searching for fossils.

The novel does a marvelous job of bringing a historical period and place to life. It suffers from the characters being somewhat one dimensional (except Mary who really changes and grows, in some ways for the better and other ways for the worse as she becomes more successful). It also suffers from some traces of melodrama. But these do not interfere with the enjoyment from the book, it is just what prevents it from being truly great.