The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott

Review in 20 Words or Less:

France after Napoleon was captured.  Daniel, young naturalist, falls in love with a wanted woman.  Great setting, so-so love story.

More Thoughts on the Book:

The book takes place just after Napoleon leaves France.  The author does a fantastic job describing the setting of the city of Paris after Nepoleon's time.  Daniel, a young medial student, travels to Paris on an internship at Culvier's Jardin where he is to help write and research part of Culvier's novel on birds.  Daniel has his fossils stolen while riding in a carriage by an older woman at night.  Daniel runs into the woman later in who returns some of his stolen fossils as well as his letter of introduction to the famous Culvier.  Daniel starts a love affair with this thief, Lucienne.

Throughout the book, there is discussion of Lamark's theory of evolution.  As a biologist, I found this part most interesting.  The early theories on evolution were instantly rejected as it contradicted the Bible.  The best part of the book was the dialog between the two main characters about the idea of species evolving.  As far as the main characters go, I personally feel they were not well developed in the book.  I could not understand the love affair between Lucienne and Daniel.  Lucienne was at least 20 years older than Daniel and I felt no real connection to either character.  That part was utterly disappointing.

Rating:
3 out of 5 Scones