I tried reading this book a few years ago, and for some reason didn't get into it, and so stopped. Picking it up again, I was quickly drawn in to the web of intertwining lives that makes up its narrative. The man on the wire, up in the air, looks down on the world below, as do we; discovering new ways of seeing monks and prostitutes, judges and druggies; new ways of seeing life. Gloria, one of the main characters, sums up our habitual way of seeing the world nicely, when reflecting upon letters to her parents during her college days:
"I gave them all of the truth and none of the honesty."
10) Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Having previously read Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Falling Angels and The Lady and the Unicorn, I had high expectations of this book, and I was not disappointed. The subject of fossils, which I was completely ambivalent about before, was brought to life through Mary and Elizabeth's eyes, and Chevalier has again taken a historical artifact and breathed a narrative into it. It made me really think about the first discoveries of dinosaur bones, and what impact this must have had on everyone's understanding of the world, and how it was created. Added to this are some interesting reflections on women's place at a time when they were seen as being "a spare part" and not fit to walk "down a London street alone". It makes me realise, that even if we still have some way to go with gender equality, I am very lucky to have as much freedom as I do today.
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