This is an arena dominated by men but luckily Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly, intelligent Elizabeth Philpot. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty and barely suppressed envy. Despite their differences in age and background, Mary and Elizabeth discover that, in struggling for recognitior, friendship is their strongest weapon.

A voyage of discoveries, a meeting of two remarkable women, an extraordinary time and place, all enrich Tracy Chevalier's superb new novel.

From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Arming is marked for greatness. When she uncovers fossils of unknown creatures in the cliffs near her home, she sets the scientific world aligh t, challenging ideas about the world's creation and stimulating debate over our origins.