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This book is a beautifully written historical fiction novel that is told in alternating chapters by two women. The setting in Africa is an important part of the story and the author writes about it in glowing terms that almost makes you wish that you could be there.

It's 1983 and Grace has travelled to Tanzania at Olduvai George with her estranged father. She doesn't much like or respect father who abandoned their family years before but since her mother has just died she doesn't have much choice. Mary Leakey, the world famous paleontologist, is at the same archeological dig and takes an interest in Grace. She asks Grace to help her pack her fifty years of work and memories. At first Grace is very reluctant to help but then she and Mary begin to bond. It turns out that they both love Africa and the animals that live there. An injured cheetah shows up at the camp and Grace and Mary work together to rescue her which really cements their relationship. The more they work together, the more they realize that there are similarities in their pasts as well as their current lives.

During Mary's chapters, she takes us back to her early life and her love of archeology. She meets the well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey when he asks her to illustrate a book that he's writing. He was much older than her plus he was married but they fell in love with each other and she went with him to East Africa. As she began her work there, she became famous in her own right, and it allowed her to step out of the Louis's shadow and become known for her own work.

I didn't know much about Mary Leakey until I read this book and learned about her love of Africa and archeology. I had heard her name before but spent some time goggling information about her after I finished the book. She was a true pioneer and made a tremendous difference in her field. She was also an early feminist who blazed her own trail.