Remarkable Creatures

The character of Elizabeth Philpot in Remarkable Creatures is based on a real-life amateur paleontologist who moved to the Dorset coast with her sisters. In the novel, Elizabeth and her sisters Louise and Margaret are unmarried and live together in Morley Cottage; each carves out a meaningful life for herself based on various interests. Initially, Elizabeth finds Lyme Regis’s social life dull and uninspiring after moving there from London. She longs to converse with others about the fossils she uncovers on the beach but finds that people in town aren’t interested in intellectual pursuits. When Elizabeth meets Mary Anning, their shared interest in fossils ignites a friendship that changes the course of their lives. Elizabeth’s relationship with Mary is central to her character’s development in the novel, highlighting the value of friendship and their mutual respect for their work and independence. Elizabeth explains their unique connection by saying that she “would come to care about Mary more than anyone other than [her] sisters” (31). Their shared passion for fossil hunting and scientific discovery fosters a deep, emotional connection and collaborative partnership throughout the novel; it also exposes the challenges of forming friendships across class structures, highlighting the strictures of