The Curio Collectors

Lily is twelve and her brother, Tom, is six. The year is 1896 and Lily, Tom and their mother are curio collectors. These people would search for objects – a bottle, a shell, other items – which they would then pick up, creating a fantasy story around each and putting on a show for customers to buy the curios. They would then move to a new area and set up again.

Lily and Tom find a shell known as a scrimshaw which has strange markings on it. A dubious gentleman named Horatio Pinch desperately wants this scrimshaw. Can Lily and Tom work out why and what the markings mean before Horatio Pinch acquires it? Can they also find the scrimshaw’s true owner and where will that discovery lead them?

The most interesting part of this narrative occurs in the last three chapters and could have been made into a story on its own. Williams touches on the history of women horticulturists at Kew Gardens and the discrimination that they faced at this period.

This book would be inspiring to young girls aiming to become scientists.