‘The gentleman who put together most of this collection over a hundred years ago left instructions when he died. He said that his fossils and the rest of it should be free to be seen by all such curious and intelligent persons as shall desire a view of them for their information and instruction.’
‘Curious’ is a word that frequently appears throughout ‘The Great Sea Dragon Discovery’ and is a thoroughly appropriate way to summarise the whole book:
a story which praises the actions of curious characters and feeds the minds of curious readers. ‘The Great Sea Dragon Discovery’ begins on a late summer day in 1860. Our protagonist Bill is a sensitive and thoughtful child who is enthralled by the natural world and bewildered by pretty much everything else. His life is dominated by a loving but fraught home life, school, social change and the petty hierarchies prevalent in his village of Grantchester.
The story is based on the unusual (but no less fascinating) subject matter of the coprolite diggings in Cambridgeshire in the 1850s and 60s. Coprolites are small lumps of bone, scales, shells and teeth of ancient creatures, which combine to form the ‘coprolite bed’ layer of the earth. They were much sought after by farmers as a form of fertiliser, thanks to their high phosphate content and were equally desired by archaeologists as they shed light on the types of creatures that would have inhabited the area in the past. In a time of new ideas and new discoveries, the coprolite diggings and their implications caused a tricky shift in Victorian societal beliefs about religion and creation.
Such fossils also became a source of income: they were bought and sold, and the digs became temporary jobs for locals. Bill himself joins the diggings to earn some money for his parents. As his curious mind leads him to look further and dig deeper, Bill discovers an Ichthyosaur skeleton which he and his cousin Alf battle to conceal and keep safe until they can sell it to a Cambridge scholar to help their families.
This book is packed full of interesting and challenging ideas, peppered with real events and real people and would provide a thoroughly stimulating experience for curious readers. Subtle messages about class inequality and the Victorian tussle between religion and science permeate the gripping plot, alongside underlying stories about corrosive family secrets and Bill’s gradual coming of age. The story’s thoughtful climax (of which I will reveal nothing as I don't want to spoil it!) forges the path for a new and contented future for Bill and his family which proves very satisfying for a reader who has grown fond of their protagonist.
‘The Great Sea Dragon Discovery’ is the perfect literary treat for children intrigued by history, science and the natural world, with a penchant for fossils.
Pippa Goodhart is the author of various other historical novels for
children which I am very much looking forward to pursuing next.
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