Paris, 1815. Napoleon has just surrendered at Waterloo and is on his way to the island of St. Helena to begin his exile. Meanwhile, Daniel Connor, ...
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Jan 22, 2011
Gave up around page 70, not enough to interest me to even slog through it at the gym. Almost cut the cardio short to shorten the pain.
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Feb 15, 2010
Elizabeth
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I'm a GoodReads winner, and so is The Coral Thief! History, intrique, the cloaked mysterious woman.....I was captivated from the beginning, and then, the one passage that inspired me to finish reading the entire book the very first night I picked it up... "She could have chosen any of us. But she chose me." A brilliantly written novel that reminds us to ask ourselves, " What footprints will I leave behind." You'll enjoy the journey along side the main characters and you'll in
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Oct 18, 2011
Miles
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 26, 2011
Sharon
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If you like your historical fiction to be filled with vivid imagery, then Rebecca Stott is the author to read. One review went so far as to say that she has created a new genre--the historical, scientific, romance-thriller. In The Coral Thief we are taken to Paris of 1815, shortly after the defeat of Napoleon by the British Navy at Waterloo and about twenty years after the French Revolution. Rebecca said that she spent time in the Rare Books Room at Cambridge Library where she came across an 1
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Aug 01, 2011
Becky
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Listened to this Historical Fiction book. Set in 1815 in Paris after Napoleon was captured the second time. A story of love and ideas. Subject matters include transmutation or evolution, the bible, crime, the museums, science, collaboration with other countries, stealing treasures back, the french revolution. I had no idea the war was so bloody, lasted so long, had so many people killed at the guillotine. The streets of Paris literally ran with blood. The cruelty was immense. The collection
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Feb 18, 2011
Paul
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This book should rightfully be catagorized as historical/fiction. It is set against a backdrop of post revoluntionary Paris. It also parallels Napoleon's surrender at Waterloo and his exile to St. Helena.
Daniel Conner, a medical student, has been sent from Edinburgh to Paris to study anatomy at the famed Jardin des Plantes. He is entrusted with his letter of introduction, a gift of precious coral, and a rare fossil to be given to his mentor Dr. Cuvier.
On his way to Par More...
Daniel Conner, a medical student, has been sent from Edinburgh to Paris to study anatomy at the famed Jardin des Plantes. He is entrusted with his letter of introduction, a gift of precious coral, and a rare fossil to be given to his mentor Dr. Cuvier.
On his way to Par More...
Dec 15, 2010
Kristen
rated it: 
Even though the subject matter interests me, the book did not. I wondered why I was so bored when the setting should be so interesting. The main character and narrator is ridiculously naive in a way that is frustrating and unbelievable. The woman who alters his destiny at no point seems like a real person. Her motivations make no sense. The historical details, while obviously meticulously researched, seem clunky. They should be woven into the fabric of the plot so that the reader absorbs
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Dec 04, 2010
Fleur
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Daniel Connor, a very bright young man, is a student from Edinburgh Medical School, and he is setting out on a great adventure.
He is going to Paris.
Paris at a turning point in its history. The year is 1815. Napoleon has been defeated and the city is occupied by his conquerors. Change is in the air.
Daniel is travelling on the mail-coach, carrying letters of introduction to the great Georges Cuvier, professor of comparative anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes.
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He is going to Paris.
Paris at a turning point in its history. The year is 1815. Napoleon has been defeated and the city is occupied by his conquerors. Change is in the air.
Daniel is travelling on the mail-coach, carrying letters of introduction to the great Georges Cuvier, professor of comparative anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes.
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Nov 18, 2009
Brenda
rated it:
What a fabulous story. This author did so much research and had so much history included in this little book. The beginnings of medical discovery's about how man evolved and animals also evolved over thousands of years. The author included in this little book also many facts about Napoleon, and his part in how things came about, his belief that coral proved how long the earth had been in existence. His leading the medical men of the time to believe they needed to study coral, animals, everythin
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Sep 25, 2009
Morris
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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 More...
Daniel Connor worked hard to receive a recommendation allowing him to travel to Paris and study with the More...
Dec 01, 2009
Ken
rated it:
The year is 1815. Napoleon is on his way to St. Helena, and Daniel Connor is nearing Paris, having left Edinburgh with important specimens and documents which will insure his admittance to the Jardin de Plantes to study anatomy. He meets an enigmatic woman on his coach, but discovers, after waking from a short sleep, that she has stolen the material, including some rare coral, from his case. Thus begins a search, a passionate love affair, and a reluctant connection to a group of rebels and i
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May 09, 2010
Jolene
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This book is set in Paris in 1815, shortly after Napoleon has surrendered at Waterloo and while he is making his journey to exile in St. Helena. The main character is Daniel Connor, a young man who is a medical student travelling from England, in order to study in Paris. He arrives during a time when scientific theories are being redefined and challenged on a regular basis and often in seeming contrast to the belief system his family has instilled in him.
The author gives strong historica More...
The author gives strong historica More...
Aug 12, 2011
Amy
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Paris, 1815. Napoleon is banished to St. Helena for good. Foreign armies camp on the Champs-Elysees and hang out at the Palais Royal. A sheltered young English researcher arrives to work at the Jardin des Plantes. He ends up in the quarries underneath the city, an accomplice to a group of “philosopher-thieves.”
The most interesting character here is the city of Paris itself. As one walk-on character says, “’Paris is an ocean . . . . You’ll never reach the bottom of it.’” The aut More...
The most interesting character here is the city of Paris itself. As one walk-on character says, “’Paris is an ocean . . . . You’ll never reach the bottom of it.’” The aut More...
Nov 11, 2009
Heather
rated it:
In Paris in 1815, everything is changing. Napoleon is in exile, on his way to Saint Helena. France has a king again, and in Paris new streets are being laid, old buildings torn down. The freedoms, or illusions of freedom, of the Revolution are disappearing: Paris is no longer the place where any idea can be expressed. And Daniel Connor, a medical student who does anatomical drawings, is there to see it all: he's come from Edinburgh to study with Georges Cuvier at the Jardin des Plantes. At the s
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Feb 02, 2012
Katri
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To me, The Coral Thief promised more than it delivered. The premise is exciting: a young Englishman, Daniel Connor, wants above all to be a scientist and travels to Paris to join the exciting realms of scientific research and thought still blossoming in post-Napoleon Paris in summer 1815. But his life takes a new turn when his precious fossils and manuscript trusted into his care disappear with a mysterious woman on his way to Paris. When tracking the woman and his belongings, Daniel ends up in
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(5 people liked it)
Feb 24, 2010
Asho
rated it:
I was disappointed when I finished reading this book because I realized I have now read both of Stott's books and she has yet to write anything else for me to read next.
Unlike Ghostwalk, this book was true historical fiction, set completely in the past, in Paris in 1815. Daniel comes from Edinburgh to work in the Jardin des Plantes, where he becomes involved with a savant thief and her friends. I've always been more of an Anglophile and my French history is a bit rusty, so I liked diving More...
Unlike Ghostwalk, this book was true historical fiction, set completely in the past, in Paris in 1815. Daniel comes from Edinburgh to work in the Jardin des Plantes, where he becomes involved with a savant thief and her friends. I've always been more of an Anglophile and my French history is a bit rusty, so I liked diving More...
Oct 28, 2010
Joy
rated it:
A novel about the history of natural history. A medical student traveling to Paris in 1815 to work for Cuvier meets a woman on the coach who steals his credentials, his fossils, and the work he's already completed for his patron. In the course of attempting to get them back, he is drawn more and more into the life of the thief, who becomes his lover, her circle of disreputable friends, and the corrupt head of the Security bureau who must be both placated and outwitted in a daring, double-crossin
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Aug 22, 2010
Crissy
rated it:
I picked up this book looking for a little adventure/escape from everyday stress. This was not the right book for that job (anyone have a good fantasy to recommend?) What this book was good at was making me think about the impact that the theory of evolution had both politically, and socially on the world at the time of its introduction. I have never had a problem recociling my religious beliefs and scientific understanding of evolution, but through the lens of this book started to understand ho
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Mar 14, 2010
Lynda
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What a wonderful setting for the story, Paris around 1800. The lead protagonist was a strong, smart, beautiful, mysterious 'older' woman, with a younger lover. She loved and was driven by her love of the search for the truth of time and natural history. The natural world was feverishly being collected and categorized in the attempt to chronicle 'everything'. Conclusions were being drawn about relationships between species and time that were not correct, but widely accepted at the time. Luciea, t
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Dec 09, 2009
Laura Stone
rated it: 
It’s 1815 and Daniel Connor, fresh out of medical school in Edinburgh, is full of excitement as he arrives in Paris to begin a research assignment at the famed Jardin des Plantes botanical garden and museum under renowned Dr. Cuvier. On his journey he meets a mysterious and alluring woman who tantalizes him with intriguing discussions of “transformism,” the beginnings of evolutionary theory. But it turns out that beauty has disguised her real intent. When Daniel wakes from an ill-advised na
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Jan 23, 2010
Bettie
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Dec 15, 2009
Lauren
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Stott's novel takes place in Paris in 1815, a turbulent time in French history, with Napoleon en route to exile on Saint Helena and Paris chock-a-block with opportunistic foreigners, many vying for the the Napoleonic booty.
The story centers on a 21-year-old Edinburgh medical student named Daniel Conner who has come to Paris to study comparative anatomy under Cuvier at the Jardin des Plantes. Daniel arrives with a gift -- the coral of title - in his possession. This treasure, however, More...
The story centers on a 21-year-old Edinburgh medical student named Daniel Conner who has come to Paris to study comparative anatomy under Cuvier at the Jardin des Plantes. Daniel arrives with a gift -- the coral of title - in his possession. This treasure, however, More...
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Dec 16, 2011
Rich
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In essence: Evolution-savvy cougar/thief Lucienne Bernard preys on naïve and shallow wannabee scientist Daniel Connor in an era when the theories of transformation and evolution come to head.
The succulent language and well-investigated, era-appropriate, scenery and conversations are conquered by an overtly predictable plot. There's also the pungent, lingering taste on your tongue that someone's attempting to cram their ideology down your throat. Stott's protagonist is an unbelievable, More...
The succulent language and well-investigated, era-appropriate, scenery and conversations are conquered by an overtly predictable plot. There's also the pungent, lingering taste on your tongue that someone's attempting to cram their ideology down your throat. Stott's protagonist is an unbelievable, More...
Apr 02, 2011
Jason
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This is a great work of historical fiction blending a tale of the close of the Napoleonic era with a classic coming of age tale. If you enjoy impecabbly researched historical fiction with a good heist tale then this is a book that is very much worth your time. On a midnight carriage ride from Calais to Paris a young English doctor talks with a beautiful woman about coral, animals, and the beginning of the universe. He falls asleep on the carriage and when he awakens he discovers that his cora
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Sep 09, 2009
Brenna
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I "won" this book by entering goodreads' first reads drawing. Score! I am fancy and have an advance readers' edition. It's interesting to get a little peek into the book publishing/marketing process. We'll see how the book turns out; I've just started.
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So I finished the book a couple of days ago and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The premise is fantastic: a British medical student travels to post-Napoleon Paris to study with a scientist whose pr More...
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So I finished the book a couple of days ago and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The premise is fantastic: a British medical student travels to post-Napoleon Paris to study with a scientist whose pr More...
Jan 12, 2012
Meenoo
rated it:
I finished The Coral Thief last night. It's a smart, engaging book on a time period I don't really think about, (right after the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution) but of course, so critical. For me the best parts of the book was Lucienne's character (a fascinating woman) and the community of natural philosophers who were arguing about the pre-Darwin evolution. I studied the history of science in college, so I really loved the setting of the story in the time before Darwin, with Lamarck'
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Oct 04, 2009
Sara
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If Rebecca Stott’s goal was to create a vivid feel of Paris after the Napoleonic wars, this novel is a complete success. As for the plot and characters she builds this vibrant setting around, they definitely take a backseat in her vivid re-creation. Her story starts as an intriguing mystery novel, young scientist Daniel Connor heads to Paris to study with the greats in a nexus of brilliant and important thought of the day, Paris. On the train into town, he is near hypnotized by a beautiful st
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Oct 21, 2011
Deb
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Takes place in 1815 Paris. Student leaves Scotland traveling to Paris to continue his education. On a coach in France he meets a woman he speaks to; he falls asleep; when he wakes up at the next stop he finds the woman gone and he's been robbed by her. He reports the theft; meets the woman accidentally in Paris and things happen from there...unexpected stuff happens! Also, the setting is the time period when Napoleon is in exile and traveling on a ship going to the island that will be his pr
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Sep 09, 2009
Erik
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I was surprised that I enjoyed this book for its historical context. I was never a big fan of history, so historical fiction has never been much of a draw for me, but I wanted to give it a shot. Stott does an excellent job of weaving history in with her story to make both more interesting. I'd go so far as to say it's piqued my interest in this genre and the history of France.
The story was compelling enough to keep me reading, though not necessarily unique or inspired. I enjoyed the More...
The story was compelling enough to keep me reading, though not necessarily unique or inspired. I enjoyed the More...
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Dec 19, 2009
Shomeret
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I thought this book took a fresh approach. It's a crime novel from the criminals' perspective and the author makes these criminal protagonists interesting and sympathetic. They aren't Robin Hood types, but Lucienne the philosopher/thief belongs to the French aristocratic class that was the object of the Scarlet Pimpernel's mission during the revolution. So Lucienne might be considered peripherally related to Baroness Orczy's counter-revolutionary hero. Yet the attitude toward the revolution in
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