{"id":2772,"date":"2020-10-17T16:50:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T14:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=2772"},"modified":"2022-04-06T16:17:22","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T14:17:22","slug":"mary-anning-inspires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=2772","title":{"rendered":"Mary Anning Inspires!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Review comment (c) Nell Dixon
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The writer Rosie Howard recently reviewed On a Falling Tide<\/em> by saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This is a story written with such heart and generosity \u2013 a tale of grief, romance and mystery \u2013 this book has it all, along with the beautifully evoked setting of Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast. I really get the impression it was a tale that Georgia Hill passionately wanted to tell.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was thrilled with the review but, more importantly, think Rosie hit upon something. Nicola Pryce\u2019s recent blog on how she pieces together bits of inspiration also got me thinking. On a Falling Tide<\/em> was<\/em> a book I needed to write \u2013 and lots of things came together to inspire it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all started with one woman. Mary Anning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mary Anning and her dog Tray, with the Jurassic Coast in the background
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Although fossilist Mary Anning is long dead by the time Lydia, my Victorian heroine, begins to rootle around for ammonites, she haunts the novel much like Lydia\u2019s ghost. Anning has been a heroine of mine since I was a child because of her connection to Lyme Regis. Because of my obsession with the town I became obsessed with her and her history. I seem to remember a Blue Peter feature which brought her to my attention when very young. Because of Lyme Regis and Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries, I became a devotee of Lyme Regis Museum (and which also features in the book) and am now proud to call myself a Friend of the Museum. Because of Mary Anning, I read Tracy Chevalier\u2019s Remarkable Creatures<\/em> which remains a favourite book and which I reread partly for research. Along with Sir David Attenborough, Tracy Chevalier is a Patron of the museum. I\u2019ve gone on to read most of Tracy\u2019s other books, so, in turn, have discovered a wonderful writer who has enriched my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything is linked and one thing leads to another \u2026 and another!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anning is, at last, having her moment in the spotlight. A new Francis Lee film, Ammonite<\/em>, depicts her life and relationship with Charlotte Murchison. Charlotte really existed, although the nature of her relationship with Mary is hotly disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ammonite<\/em> was filmed in Lyme and, during location filming, I popped in to have a look at how the film crew had created the early Victorian version of the town Mary inhabited. It was fascinating. Shop windows were dressed and Mary\u2019s emporium of Fossils and Curios was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A fake wall was erected at the bottom of Broad Street. It looked completely real from one side and, from the back, all was scaffolding. The film had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Saturday. I can\u2019t wait to see it, if only to spot the false wall!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a movement to erect a statue in Lyme of Mary Anning, led by MaryAnningRocks. Passionate campaigner Evie says there are more statues in the UK of men called John than there are of women. I\u2019m with Evie; it\u2019s about time the imbalance was addressed! If you want to support her, you can find more information on Twitter @MaryAnningRocks and here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.maryanningrocks.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BBC recently published a very comprehensive article about Mary Anning. It\u2019s well worth reading. Link here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-dorset-54510746<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often wish Lydia, fictional character that she is, was around to witness all this. In On a Falling Tide<\/em> she struggles against expectations that she should settle for a society marriage, when all she wants to do is follow in Mary Anning\u2019s footsteps and scrub amongst the Blue Lias for fossils. Had Lydia been born in 1996 rather than 1846, I know she\u2019d be working as a scientist, would be desperate to see the film Ammonite<\/em> and be a lead support in the MaryAnningRocks campaign. And be loud and bolshy about it too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have no idea what Mary Anning was really like but I\u2019m thrilled that she\u2019s finally getting a chance to shine as the hero in science that she is. May she continue to inspire long into the future.
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Love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The writer Rosie Howard recently reviewed On a Falling Tide by saying: \u2018This is a story written with such heart and generosity \u2013 a tale of grief, romance and mystery \u2013 this book has it all, along with the beautifully evoked setting of Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast. I really get the impression it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[797,64,795,796,770,794],"class_list":["post-2772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ammonite","tag-lyme-regis","tag-mary-anning","tag-maryanningrocks","tag-on-a-falling-tide","tag-rosie-howard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2772"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2796,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2772\/revisions\/2796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}