A wonderful story set in Lyme Regis, Dorset. Inspired by the story of Mary Anning, the book explores the challenges women experienced in trying to be recognised in a male dominated world. I wasn't expecting the final chapters to end as they did- and so dramatically.

I am in awe of The Bone Hunters. What starts off as a gentle (almost too slow) atmospheric read set in early 19th century Dorset, England, becomes a tense race between humans and history, violence and enlightenment, exclusion and freedom.

The protagonist, Ada Winters, is a “peculiar” young woman and a gifted palaeontologist, excluded from The Geological Society of London based on her sex. Not only is this a period of great geological discovery, but it is also a time of shifting ideas regarding nature, religion, and science. Ada finds herself torn between her scientific mind, her pagan ancestry, and her Christian community - a community which shuns her and her withdrawn mother.

TBH is a gritty novel set in an old coastal England where the patriarchy reigns and ancient superstitions simmer just below the surface. Having never been particularly intrigued by dinosaurs or fossils, I nevertheless found myself sucked into this story. I don’t have to be a dino-buff to appreciate what fossil discovery did for human development.

TBH features a protagonist that is (almost certainly) asexual. Ada’s sexuality is never given a name, but she discusses her aversion to sex at length, while non-sexual friendships are thematic throughout the novel.

A gentle warning to sensitive readers that the novel does feature an episode of graphic sexual assault.

I really couldn't get on with this book and ended up not finishing it. Both character's seemed selfish and I couldn't warm to them or care what happened next.

Inspired by the real life Mary Anning, The Bone Hunters tells the story of Ada, a young woman with a passion for fossil hunting who lives right on the edge of the sea in Lyme Regis.

After the death of her father, Ada and her mother eke out an existence, living hand to mouth on the money her mother brings home from working at the local mill, and any money Ada can make selling fossils to visitors. Rejected from geological institutions for being a woman, it seems she's going to have to give up her passion and submit to marriage.

When Ada makes an incredible discovery on the beach, but stands to lose it all, solely due to being a woman it's time to fight back, even though this will mean risking everything.

This was so beautifully written, I've spent quite a bit of time along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and this really brought the whole area to life.

The cliffs and beaches of Lyme Regis on the south coast of England are famous for their fossils, particularly the remains of dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles, some of which were discovered in the 19th century by the fossil collector and scientist, Mary Anning. In her new novel The Bone Hunters, Joanne Burn takes inspiration from Anning’s life and work to create the fictional story of another female fossil hunter, Ada Winters.

Ada is twenty-four years old when her story begins in 1824. Since her father’s death, she and her mother have been struggling to pay the rent and are at risk of losing their little cottage by the sea. Much to her mother’s frustration, Ada is reluctant to look for a job, instead spending her days wandering on the beach and insisting that the collection of bones and fossils she is acquiring will one day make their fortune. Ada receives a setback when her request to join the Geological Society of London is rejected, but her disappointment turns to excitement when she discovers what she believes to be the remains of a previously unidentified species.

When Ada meets another geologist, Dr Edwin Moyle, by the cliffs one day, she must decide whether to trust him with what she has found. Edwin’s support means she will be more likely to be taken seriously when she presents her discovery to the Society, but what if he tries to claim the skeleton for himself? Having come so close to achieving her dream, Ada is determined not to let anyone take it away from her!

The Bone Hunters is a beautifully written novel. I loved the descriptions of the landscape – the beach, the harbour, the cliffs of Black Ven with their ‘dark, forbidding crag face looming high above’ – and the town itself. The relationship between the people of Lyme and their natural environment is something that comes up again and again throughout the book: the dangers of landslides that can happen without warning; the severe flooding that can destroy homes and take lives. It’s one of those novels where the geographical setting takes on as much importance as the characters and the plot.

As I read, it was difficult not to make comparisons with Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier’s novel about Mary Anning, but I think I enjoyed this one more. Inventing a character based on Anning rather than writing about Anning herself allowed Joanne Burn to bring more drama into the story and to introduce other fictional characters and storylines. I particularly liked Josiah and Annie Fountain, an elderly couple who run a bookshop together and have taken Ada under their wing, and Isaac, a young man who has come to Lyme to collect local myths and legends. Ada herself frustrated me because of her single-mindedness and selfishness – I felt sorry for her mother who was making herself ill washing fleeces in a factory all day while Ada refused to go to work – but at the same time I could admire her ambition and determination as a woman trying to make a name for herself in a male-dominated field. As for Edwin, part of the story is written from his point of view which adds an extra angle of interest, but I won’t tell you whether he turns out to be hero or villain!

Joanne Burn is a new author for me. I haven’t read either of her previous novels, but I do now want to read The Hemlock Cure, based on the real life story of the village of Eyam during the Great Plague.

I must admit I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did: having read at least one or two novels based on fossil hunting in Lyme Regis, I anticipated something quite generic, but happily, this was far from true. Of course the theme of women dismissed and excluded from the geographical society, but for me the characters really came to life. Ada was a brilliant character, quite unlikeable for much of the book, unlucky, impoverished, stubborn, seemingly unable to help herself from digging up trouble as well as fossils! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

“The Bone Hunters” is an original historical fiction book by Joanne Burn.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Characters: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Pace: ⭐️ ⭐️

A great historical fiction novel from Joanne Burn with a very strong female character. The writing style is intriguing. The story flows nicely although I would prefer it to unfold a bit more quickly. In some points I felt like there where info/chapters that didn’t add much value to the story.

Ada leaves in the wrong era unfortunately! A girl with a very strong character, that knows what she wants from her life and she is not interested to follow the rules that want her a nice married girl with no other interests than her family. Ada though loves Geology and she is also very good at it but she needs to fight her way to recognition just because she is a woman. But the cards change in her favour when she discovers something unusual while searching for fossils. Follow her story if you want to learn more, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

I would definitely recommend it to all lovers of historical fiction and lovers of strong women that take their life in their own hands.

My special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my early copy.

From the author’s notes, this book was inspired by the English palaeontologist Mary Anning, who I hadn’t heard of before, so it was lovely to research her. I read this author’s debut novel so was excited to read this, her third book. Set in 1824 the main protagonist is 24 year old Ada, who initially comes across as selfish but I ended up really routing for her and I liked her headstrong attitude to not fit in with the norm of the time; getting married, having children and doing a job you really don’t want to do. It was hard for women at that time to follow their dreams just because they were women but Ada was prepared to go without to follow her passion. The setting around the beach at Lyme Regis was described well and I could imagine myself there. I haven’t read the author’s second book, The Hemlock Cure, but it’s definitely going on my tbr list now. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK, Sphere for letting me read and review this book.

First of all, thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book was not for me.
From the cover and the synopsis, I was expecting the book to focus mainly on the excavation and discovery of the bones; instead, it took a very unexpected dark turn from the halfway point.

The biggest problem I had were the main characters: they were both so stubborn and selfish, and I could not stand them.

Ada had my sympathy at the beginning, since she struggles to fit in, doesn't want to work in a factory, has no interest in men, and just wants to discover fossils.
When she's at her limit, without money to buy food, losing her home, she still sticks to her one interest.
She doesn't accept help from others, and just gets more involved in other problems.

"Not for the first time she feels as if she doesn't belong in this world. There is nowhere that she fits.
She is an oddity to it all, and she is sick of it."

Overall, this book was not my cup of tea, but I am still happy that I got the chance to read it and learn about the real woman this is inspired by: Mary Anning.

1824, Lyme Regis. A young woman, Ada Winters, lives in a small cottage by the sea with her mother. Fascinated in palaeontology, Ada spends her days searching Dorset shores for fossils. When she discovers an unusual set of bones on the cliffs, Ada is hopeful it will open the door for her to become a member of the Palaeontology Society and end her family financial struggles. At the same time, she meets Doctor Edwin Moyle, a physician with a keen interest in fossils. They join their efforts to excavate the mysterious skeleton, but soon, their shared passion leads to destruction.

I loved this book! Ada was such an interesting character. Headstrong and determined, she completely refused to fill the role the society expected of her as a woman. Despite the poverty she lived in, she refused to exchange her life passion for security of a steady income. I found it interesting how forces of nature shaped her life - stroke of lightning, landslide, storm wher at the heart of turning points of her life.
It's a very well written, captivating, and original story. I would strongly recommend it to any historical fiction lovers.

Loosely based on the pioneering female palaeontologist Mary Anning the reader is introduced to the brilliant Ada Winters, who in 1824, combs the beaches of Lyme Regis in search of fossils and new scientific discoveries. Born into poverty, she scrapes by with her mother Edith, selling the curiosities she unearths from the sand and cliffs by her windblown cottage. She strikes a deal with Black Ven, a cliff she returns to time and time again, to give up its secrets and for this she would give everything.

The characterisation of Black Ven and its neighbour the sea were fascinating depictions within the novel. Both at times malevolent and a source of comfort and solace, their timelessness stands in direct contrast to the small and hard lives of the inhabitants that reside briefly next to them. I thought Ada’s drive to succeed and to learn in conjunction with the repeated rebuttals to be acknowledged by the scientific community make her a particularly compelling character as she tries to push through societal and gender conventions.

Edwin Moyles, a doctor, who’s real passion is Geology also scours the cliffs and landscape in search of a big discovery that will rock the foundations of both the scientific world but also the dominant religious beliefs of the time. How can something so old exist? What does this mean for our sense of self and humanities position in the world? I initially thought Edwin was going to be a heroic figure, that his passion and desire for discovery and learning would outweigh any chauvinism and masochism that perhaps dominated the higher echelons of society at this time. I was wrong. His character development and his interactions with Ada become increasingly uncomfortable and culminate in a shocking attack.

The reverberations and consequences of this act spiral out across the novel and I thought it was particularly effective how the writer uses this singular story to consider the treatment of women over time and how individuals who have not ‘known their place’ have been ostracised or categorised as being against God. This plays out in the novel through the stories and legends that pervade the landscape. Stories of witches and wolves that seek to harm those that are too curious or wayward. There is a supernatural element to the story but rather than becoming an unsettling presence, I found its presence comforting in that society may choose to reject different belief systems and ideologies but that does not mean they will simply go away. On the contrary their will always be people who will fight and challenge antiquated systems and within that, there is hope.

A thoroughly compelling read that evokes character and landscape in memorable ways. I am looking forward to reading more of the author’s works.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

24 year old Ada Winters is a budding geologist from Lyme Regis. Ada uncovers an usual set of bones on the cliffs not far from her home she is eager to share her discovery but Ada will have to go to great lengths to secure her place in a society controlled by men.

This was a beautifully written book. At first I found Ada a really peculiar character and it took me a while to figure her out she was a magnet for bad luck! The book had some really likeable characters and the immersive writing was just fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital copy.

The Bone Hunters by Joanne Burns is an interesting take on fossil hunters of the nineteenth century. Set along the Jurassic Coast this novel follows the escapades of Ada and Edwin as they both seek to find a sea monster that is buried in the rocks of Dorset.

Ada has had a hard life, although not a s hard as her mother. Her father died leaving her his collection of old bones and fossils. She spends most of her life finding these objects and hoarding them Occasionally she'll sell one or two to tourists who flock to the coast. Her mother wants her to marry the local vicar, but Ada has other ideas for her life. Enter Edwin, a doctor who is a member of the Royal Geological Society. He's spending time with colleagues hunting more fossils on the coast when he meets Ada. Together they conspire to find this sea monster in the cliffs. Both are single minded in what they want.

This is an interesting book. I was attracted to it by the obvious similarities between the story and that of real-life fossil hunter, Mary Anning. The atmosphere of a rain splattered dirty town in Dorset are beautifully written. Ada and Edwin are both a little selfish and too self-centred in their own goals.

This was an Ok read and will suit those who like historical novels with strong characters.

This novel is set in 1824. Of course, the heroine, Ada Winters, as old as the century, is loosely based on autodidact palaeontologist Mary Anning. But Ada, encouraged by her radical father to read and learn, is very much her own woman, just as this book is no pale imitation of previous Anning-inspired books such as ‘Remarkable Creatures’.

Strong-minded, plain-speaking Ada lives and breathes, with her intelligence, scientific ambitions and completely uncompromising response to the prejudice she faces for her sex and class. This bigotry is personified in the character of Dr Edwin Moyle, a loathsome product of his time. For all Ada's faults, as perceived by her 19th century neighbours, we cheer her on at every point, while the gossipy, narrow-mindedness of the then Lyme community is brought to life.

The satisfying, credible resolution was a joy.

I love Lyme Regis and I loved this book! The detailed descriptions of the town and the coast added another layer of interest for me, as I envisaged it in my mind’s eye.

It was only when I did my own little bit of research (aka googling) that I realised just how well researched it is. There was indeed a Great Gale in 1824, which even managed to breach the Cobb seawall. There were indeed assembly rooms at that time, since demolished after another storm weakened its foundations in 1927.

It’s a beautifully written novel that repays rereading, which I’ve already done. I’m sure I’ll return to it again and again, perhaps sitting on one of several fossil beaches at Lyme.

I will be delighted to post this review on Amazon, just as soon as ‘The Bone Hunters’ is published and available for review.

I didn't think I could get excited by geologists or books about those who discover fossils or dinosaur bones, however Joanne Burn has managed to make this an exciting subject in her book "The Bone Hunters". Loosely based on Mary Anning, we follow Ada and her quest to be accepted by male society as an equal. Not only that but she has to work out whether Dr Edwin Moyle can be trusted as they uncover bones of a possibly new dinosaur species. Makes me want to revisit the Jurassic coast.

The Bone Hunters by Joanne Burn

In 1824, Lyme Regis is as tumultuous as the sea that surrounds it. Wealthy holidaymakers dance in the Assembly Rooms whilst the poor riot over the price of bread, scientists do battle with theologists, and amidst it all, one woman is about to make an extraordinary discovery.

When twenty-four-year-old Ada Winters - poor, peculiar and brilliant - uncovers a set of unusual fossils on the cliffs, she believes she has found the answer to her scientific frustrations and her family's financial struggles.

Meanwhile, Doctor Edwin Moyle has come to Dorset in search of the discovery that will place him amongst the greatest geologists of the age. What he finds instead is a strange young woman who seems to hold the key to everything he desires.
I found this an unusual read with the character Ada not immediately likeable to me , however I did warm to get once she meets Edwin and they come together to work on her ' find ' .

A well written and descriptive story with well drawn characters, especially Ada, the main character. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

Possible spoilers

I found it hard at the beginning to like Ada or Edwin... both very selfish.
Indulging their obsession for fossil hunting at cost to others.
Despite that, I felt fully immersed in the story, the reveal of the bones, the weather , the conditions of the coastline.
Isaac was a welcome relief when he showed up.
Excellent story telling with great pace and a few turns along the way.
At times, I felt a tiny bit of excitement myself at the discovery of this new monster

Highly recommend this book to fans of the genre. Immersive and lovely writing style. This was a great new read for me.