A lasting impression

Joanne Burn discusses The Bone Hunters, her tale of a female ‘fossilist’ in 1820s Lyme Regis

Your new novel was inspired by the real story of Mary Anning (right). What was it about Anning that you found compelling? I’m intrigued by people who don’t fit the norm. Mary Anning, as well as being one of the greatest ‘fossilists’, has been referred to as ‘peculiar’ and ‘mannish’. She was from a family that knew tragedy, and she had to be nothing less than extraordinary to make a mark in the newly emerging science of geology – which she did.

Were there traits of Anning’s that you used to develop the lead character of the novel, Ada Winters?

Ada is precocious, curious and determined, shunned at times by her local community as well as by the scientific world to which she longs to belong – all traits inspired by Mary Anning. Ada’s fiery character, though, contributes to the kind of dramatic events that deviate from the relatively quiet life I imagine Mary Anning lived!

What research did you do into the scientific world oH the 1 th century?

I studied the original Transactions of the Geological Society, reading first-hand what these men had to say. The absence of contributions from any women, especially the brilliant Mary Anning, speaks volumes.

And how did you set about capturing the atOosphere oH 182 s .yOe 4egis? Well, I walked 60 miles of the Jurassic coast! The Lyme Regis Museum was a brilliant resource, as were copies of ‘Lyme Voices’ – a series of booklets documenting the oral history of Lyme. Memoirs of a Smuggler, written in 1837 by the fisherman and smuggler John Rattenbury, provided quirky, grubby, briny details and atmosphere.