It may take me a while, but sooner or later I do get to those books I am constantly thinking and talking about. I've checked out Rebecca Stott's The Coral Thief from the library several times, but it seems now is simply the right time to read it. Paris in 1815 (warm, sunny Paris in July, too) is far more interesting than what I see outside my window today. What I see is a sky filled with endless gray clouds and thick fog, which has unfortunately been going on for days and days. Much better to escape into a novel, I think.
The Coral Thief concerns a young student of natural history who is traveling to Paris after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. After studying in Edinburgh he's thrilled to be going to such an exciting city to continue his research under the tutelage of the legendary Dr. Cuvier like so many other young men at the time. However, he makes the mistake of falling asleep on the mail coach en route to Paris. Sitting next to him is a beautiful young woman with a child who speaks perfect English and speaks to him of the new scientific thinking that's going on. In the morning when he wakes he discovers his bag is missing. His bag with all his notebooks, a manuscript, and rare coral fossils are gone. And so is the beautiful young woman.
"I tried to make out the full magnitude of what had happened. Professor Jameson, I reminded myself, seeking to build bridges between British and French science now that the war was finally over, had entrusted me with gifts and a manuscript to take to professor Cuvier, probably the most important man of science in France. The specimens and the manuscript were irreplaceable. The loss was not only an embarrassment, it was a scandal. This would almost certainly mean my return to the gray streets of Edinburgh, or to my father's house, shamed. Even if I went to the police and could make myself understood, even if the specimens were found returned, the story would be the same: Daniel Connor had lost the rare and irreplaceable gifts entrusted to his care because he had dropped his guard and fallen asleep on the mail coach, seduced into a false sense of security by a beautiful woman. It was pitiable."
How long do you think it will take until the beautiful young woman shows up again? Not long at all I expect.