Review: The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott

In 1815, Paris had become the center for learning throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Napoleon Bonaparte had already surrendered and was on his way to exile on St. Helena. But France was still the benefactor of his quests for knowledge as well as conquest. Many of the world's priceless works of art and science had been removed from their original homes and housed in France.

Daniel Connor worked hard to receive a recommendation allowing him to travel to Paris and study with the famous Baron Cuvier. Armed with a letter of recommendation and valuable gifts, including priceless coral specimens for the Baron, Daniel set out for Paris. Along the way he met a beautiful woman that intrigued him with controversial thoughts of the world being much older than was believed at the time. All of this, before stealing his papers and priceless coral specimens.

The Coral Thief delivers an intricate mystery set amidst the turmoil following the French Revolution. I found it fascinating to read about the French citizens hoping and wishing for Napoleon to be rescued and returned to power. Those thoughts and feelings are missing from most English versions of history concerning Napoleon. It makes sense that the people who benefited from his conquests would remain followers.

I enjoyed the characters, especially the mysterious thief and philosopher Lucienne and the semi corrupt investigator Jagot. The book is told from Daniel Connor's point of view and the descriptions are vivid. The reader gets to experience Paris anew through Daniel's eyes.

The underlying scientific debate concerning evolution is insightful. Daniel's role model, Baron Cuvier, is strongly against while Daniel's lover, Lucienne, lays out many reasons to support her theories of transformism. Daniel's struggle over this is representative of the time period. The research Rebecca Stott put into the science delivers for the reader.

I truly enjoyed this book. It has just the right mix of romance, mystery, science and historical setting. This book will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

About the author:

Rebecca Stott was born in Cambridge in 1964. She completd an MA and PhD at York University. She is now a professor of English literature and creative writing at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. She is the author of the novel Ghostwalk and a biography, Darwin and the Barnacle. She is currently working on a third historical fiction novel about London watermen in the 1880s.