Illuminating Darwin: Arabella’s Light by Jill George gives us insight into the life of Arabella Buckley who was instrumental in the work of Sir Charles Lyell (geologist), her employer, and Charles Darwin. Buckley was a vicar’s daughter that was more interested in her love of science and using her writing skills in a meaningful way than in living out a traditional life of a wife and mother as society would dictate. As with all young women of her time, attending a university was not an option. That didn’t stop Arabella. Through her relationship with Lyell, Darwin and others she became an extremely educated woman without a degree to show for it. Although she was an extremely important popularizer of science in the Victorian era, few of her letters still exist. Jill George has done an excellent job of creating a plausible life story for Arabella Buckley. This is historical fiction at its best. I learned a lot by reading this work and am inspired as well. Thank you Jill George for illuminating the life of Arabella Buckley. Thank you BookSirens, Heinze Quill Publishing and the author for the opportunity to review an ARC of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.