Lisa Grunwald has the unique skill of bringing historical periods to life as though they are the current events. The Evolution of Annabel Craig is no exception. Annabel is a happy, observant Methodist who prays on her knees every night. Born in 1910 and raised amid Prohibition and the infancy of the Women’s Movement, Annabel lives on a strawberry farm. While her family works the farm, her father runs it. As soon as the season is over, her mother travels the countryside teaching women how to preserver tomatoes. Annabel, her only child, goes along, and learns important lessons at her mother’s side. But Annabel’s parents succumb to the Spanish flu in 1918 and Annabel must leave her bucolic countryside. She moves to Dayton Tennessee, with the camera she inherited from her father. Along with a budding career in photography, she also meets and marries John Craig, a local lawyer who will go on to be part of the defense team, led by Clarence Darrow, of John Scopes.
The “Scopes Monkey Trial” didn’t put on trial the details of evolution, but the battle of science and faith. As I read, the parallels to the struggles of America in 2024 echo the struggle of 100 years earlier. We have had our pandemic and now we have polarized belief again centralized around science and reality against constructionists who believe that veering away from the literal interpretation of the Bible will be our ruin.
As a lawyer, I felt the lows and highs of the defense team, but I don’t think I needed that background to appreciate the complexity and fear Grunwald was able to instill in her wonderfully drawn characters. I cheered for Annabel along the way, as she more closely resembles the “liberal” that is so often eschewed today. She wants to understand, and she wants to make room for her beliefs. I hope you read it to see how she does.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Random House, for this review copy. The Evolution of Annabel Craig publishes on April 16 ,2024.
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