I appreciated having access to an early version of this book through NetGalley.

I read an earlier book of Grunwald's, The Irresistible Henry House and liked that she used fiction to educate me about something I never knew existed. "Practice houses" complete with real live "practice babies" sourced from orphanages, were a feature of some college home economics programs in the first half of the 20th century. Grunwald convincingly imagined what adult life might have been like for a baby boy who grew up surrounded by interchangeable foster mothers.

When I saw that she'd turned her attention to the Scopes Monkey Trial, I was eager to get my hands on it. Based in fact and historic records, with fictional characters interacting with actual ones, the book brings to life the wider impact of the trial on the small community where it happened.

A young woman, Annabel, is in the early years of marriage when the trial happens in her hometown of Dayton, Tennessee. Her husband, George, happens to be an attorney who eagerly joins the defense team both for the chance to work alongside Clarence Darrow and to defend evolution. When a journalist, Lottie, who comes to cover the trial recruits Annabel to be her photographer, Annabel finds herself in the middle of legal and personal dramas.

I appreciate what I think Grunwald was trying to do. Beyond simply reviewing an important historic and legal moment through fiction, she shows how people can change when they open themselves up to new ideas. In our current moment of polarized politics, the book felt like a primer in moderation and contemplation, rather than knee-jerk reaction. Knee-jerkers abound, of course, but they don't get the author's support.

Yet for all of this, it read like an academic exercise rather than a novel. Too much felt too contrived for it to unfold naturally. I didn't understand George's changes in mood and affect. Did he have a mental health condition that made him react so severely to his professional ups and downs? I didn't think there'd be any way a reporter would board in the home of one of the defense attorneys, as Lottie does. On and on it went for me. I couldn't believe the story enough to immerse myself in it.

This book is much darker than the rather light-hearted cover would suggest. I was intrigued by the premise of the creation/evolution school curriculum debate, but even just the first quarter of the story is bogged down by tragedy (murder/suicide, infant death, miscarriage...).

I also just wasn't a fan of the writing. I prefer to be shown the story instead of told the story–meaning I like to witness conversations and plot development instead of passive language cataloguing the events.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting historical fiction novel set in the time of the Scopes Monkey trial. It was a bit slow to start but i did enjoy it in the end. It’s nice to read the perspective of a young but strong female protagonist.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from net galley in exchange for my honest opinion,
I was interested in this one because of the time frame and the events depicted. The Scopes Monkey trail is something I’ve read a bit on and was curious to see it in a historical fiction setting. I wasn’t disappointed either. It was a quick easy read- something I think I’ll return to after I’ve read more about some of the key players.

Great Author, Great Story, Loved it more than her others. A great book for a lazy weekend afternoon for an escape. Thanks

So well written! The characters “jump” off the page and into your psyche. Lisa Grunwald did an excellent job describing the setting, the town’s people and the main protagonists. Annabel Craig certainly did evolve and the author does a painstakingly superb job of explaining her transformation and her coming “into her own.” The Scopes “Monkey” Trial was described without prejudice. I loved this book and so will you. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #TheEvolutionOfAnnabelCraig, #RandomHousePublishingGroup.

This story of Annabel, told in the first person, portrays life in the 1920s in a small Christian town. I everyone plays their role, as expected in this society, and all remains peaceful. This young coach and science, teacher, Mr., Scopes, shows audacity to present the concept of evolution to his class. This unassuming, young man, with his good intentions, renders a legal debate that surpasses all others. The author tells the story from Annabelle Craig’s point of view with brilliance. We witness Annabel‘s relationships with her husband, friend, and townspeople, but most of all herself. The religion versus evolution debate slowly builds in the town to the of the trial. With concise language, the author helps us be witness to the acrimony that occurs in the sleepy town over the religion/science debate. The overarching theme however, remains Annabelles transformation through her experiences and observations during these events. The dialogue mixed with narrative brings the reader into the town, and into the quart room with bated breath. Cheers to this new novel, and Annabel Craig!.

Lisa is an amazing author - like her last The Evolution of Annabel Craig blew me away. She is a treasure and I'm so grateful to have gotten this book to read. Thank you.

I loved this book and was unexpectedly delighted by it!
It was so well written in regards to characters, time, place and situation, I don’t remember learning about the Scopes trial and this took me on a fictional journey that lead me to do more research and learn more about it.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and of course the author Lisa Grunwald for opportunity to read a draft of his novel,
I sincerely hope we learn more in a sequel about the continuing adventures of Annabel Craig.

I received a NetGalley ARC of this book.
The title hints at the story: it’s about the evolution of a young woman, beginning with her 16th birthday, which she feels signals the end of her childhood. Set in the immediate post Great War years, in the small rural town of Dayton, Tennessee, the story ends with the ‘trial of the century,’ the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial, in July 1925. That was the legendary court case in which the right to teach evolution was challenged. The basic facts of the Scopes trial are known to most—John Scopes was a high school baseball coach and occasional substitute science teacher who had never actually taught about evolution, but was willing to become ‘poster boy’ for Dayton civic boosters who wanted to create publicity for the town. The entire trial was contrived. But it soon became much more than a stunt. Such high-powered celebrity lawyers as William Jennings Bryan, a renowned populist-fundamentalist orator who had run for president several times, stepped up for the prosecution, and the equally renowned ‘agnostic’, friend of the working class, pro suffrage Clarence Darrow, volunteered to lead the defence. Once these star participants were announced, journalists from across the country converged on the sleepy little town.

The story is told from the perspective of Annabel Craig, 23 when it ends, along with the life and identity she had believed were truly hers—by the grace of God. Annabel was the only child of loving, God-fearing, Methodist parents who looked to the Bible for both consolation and guidance in all things. They died within months of each other, of Spanish flu, just before her 16th birthday. With no other family, she lost everything about her childhood, including the family farm and the rhythms of time, and the quietude of rural life. She moved into a boardinghouse ‘in town’ and worked long hours in a hotel, but her pastor and church members looked out for her and her Bible provided much comfort.
At times, even as she told herself otherwise, God, the Bible and her community were not enough. At 20, she met and married a young Chicago-raised lawyer, George Craig, educated, sophisticated, a few years older, charming, and devoted to her. He went to church with her, seemed intent on having children, appeared to be the soulmate of her prayers. But things changed quickly when he defended a local doctor for killing his wife’s lover in a ‘crime of passion’ most felt was justified because his wife had wronged him. A few months later, he shot his young son and tried to kill his wife before committing suicide. George’s guilt unhinged him—in Annabel ‘s view, it made him hate himself, which made him incapable of living her or God. While he disappears, she miscarries a much wanted child.

When he reappears, she swallows her resentment and grief and carefully coaxes him back into their ‘before life.’ He seems to be truly recovered when he becomes part of the defence, working with men like Darrow and others who are his heroes. Meanwhile, Annabel takes in a billet to help the town stage its show. Lottie is a Chattanooga ‘girl reporter’ who wants neither marriage nor children, doesn’t like George, and urges Annabel to find out what she wants for herself for the rest of her life. The trial is a farce, George is once again sidelined and falls apart with shame, and Lottie betrays them both.

The author’s sense of history is strong. She demonstrates how this trial was disappointing to those who staged it, including the bombastic Jennings who was deprived of his much practised closing speech by Darrow’s clever final strategy, and died 5 days later. But she also shows how it was more important, and still relevant, than any of them dreamed. At times, there is a didactic quality to it, as though important characters are delivering classroom lessons, sometimes with Annabel as the unwitting student. Both Annabel and George seem to change personalities while holding on to positions like ‘science vs religion’ adamantly and in ways that seem implausible. And Annie is both present as matters unfold but also writing retrospectively, years later when she has herself moved to Chattanooga, reconnected with Lottie, and become an internationally known photo-journalist. But that part is not the closing chapter or epilogue. Much of it is foreshadowed in ways that disrupt the flow and pretty much tell readers the ending at the beginning and several times throughout. It’s an interesting book, but not altogether a satisfying read.

This was my first introduction to the drama and controversy of the Skopes Trial. I was riveted by the vibrant descriptions of small town life in Virginia, and by the depth of feeling behind the controversy over the teaching of evolution that led to the famous trial.

The cultural divide in the 1920’s did not feel so different than the one we face now, and the author crafted her book to present sympathetic characters on both sides of the argument.

I loved the parallel coming of age story of the title character. Her life was never easy, but she was drawn in a way to enable the reader to question with her, love with her, and, potentially, grow with her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I had to double check early on to see if this was a book by a Christian publisher since the early emphasis was on fox and religion. Once I realized the book used the scopes trial to my interest was piqued. I can’t say it’s the best book nor near best book written but the history of that time is interesting especially in ways you can compare it to todays world. I wish the author had tidied up the ending more to talk about the future of the protagonist.

It is 1925 and young, newly married Annabel Craig is about to have her world turned upside down and given a good shake. The town she grew up in, little Dayton Tenn., is about to host a trial which will challenge a law forbidding the teaching of evolution. Her friend John Scopes has been convinced by the city fathers , eager for the crowds sure to gather for the trial, to allow himself to serve as defendant He will be prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan, former presidential candidate, superstar speaker and sometime lay clergyman. His defense team will include the famous Clarence Darrow, already well known from having defended the murderers Leopold and Loeb and her husband George.

The 1925 Scopes trial was one of the most dramatic moments of a dramatic decade-the 1920's. America found itself in the midst of rapid and radical change after WW1 and the Spanish flu scythed through millions around the world, including Annabel's parents. An only child, she is left at age 16 to make her own way. Scientific and technological discoveries were mirrored by changes in cultural mores, gender roles and how we looked at religion. Prohibition overnight made ordinary citizens lawbreakers and created a criminal class with more power and money than the government which sought to eradicate it.

In Annabel's Dayton, many embrace change, others do not. Most are somewhere in the middle. Her husband, a nominal church goer, is an avid consumer of new technology. He buys a new car; they listen to the radio. However, he believe's Annabel's role is to run the household and, although affectionate, his attitude is condescending toward her and any role she might choose to take out of the house. She has a talent for photography that others appreciate but he sees as a mere hobby. She enjoys visiting the elderly and sick but he sees it as a diversion from her role in the home. His successful defense of a local doctor, who murdered the man who cuckolded him, rested on. a man's right his wife and home. As readers will see, Annabel is by far the stronger and more resilient of the couple.

In the run-up to the trial, beliefs in the town begin to harden. Out of town visitors and some within belittle those who stand by the Bible as literally true and the only sure way to Heaven. Others within the town scorn and shun those who believe in evolution and not the literal truth of the Bible. Annabel, like the cartoon character who has a devil whispering in one ear and an angel whispering in another, has two friends each taking one of the two sides. Lottie, a newspaper reporter who boards with the Craigs, is a single woman driven to be the best at what she does. She smokes, drinks and her idol is the sarcastic atheist H.L. Mencken. She. encourages Annabel to think for herself and not just through George and hires her to be her photographer for the trial. Mercy, Annabel's neighbor and advisor believes in the literal truth of the Bible, sees no shame in being a housewife and idolizes William Jennings Bryan. By the end of the book, Annabel emerges from this crucible as a woman who is ready to make her own way in the world.

Grunwald's depiction of Annabel and her world is lovely and nuanced. Told in an older Annabel's voice, the reader sees the charm and shortcomings of a small southern town at the beginning of the twentieth century.. Annabel is an appealing, three dimensional character. She does not see the world as filled with heroes and villains but with complex people with their own appeal and foibles. As the title suggests, we see her views mature as she begins to look at a world beyond the borders of Dayton. I heartily recommend this book. I very much appreciate the chance given to me by the publisher Random House and NetGalley to read an ARC copy.

Lisa Grunwald does it again and has a great writing style for this type of book. I enjoyed the use of the Scopes Trial as I don’t read a lot of books with that as a premise. The characters felt like they belonged in this time-period. I look forward to more from Lisa Grunwald and glad I read this.

Lisa Grunwald strikes exactly the right notes in The Evolution of Annabel Craig - an excellent history of the Scopes Trial and how it affected Dayton, Tennessee, a well-balanced discussion of the push and pull of religion versus science, and a the interesting story of a woman coming of age in the 1920s. Highly recommended.

Annabel is a young, southern woman whose life is in turmoil after losing her parents to influenza. She longs for love, a family, and company. Her story is interwoven with the infamous Scopes Trail in her hometown, Dayton, Tennessee.

Author Lisa Grunwald masterfully weaves together the stories of the Bible versus evolution and Annabel's personal evolution. Throughout the novel Annabel finds love and grief, the shaking of her faith, kindness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal while experiencing events and personal revelations she never thought possible. She learns that not only does she have a voice, but also how to use it in the fast changing world of the 1920s.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pub Random House for providing me a copy of this book for my honest review.

The story is set in 1925, in a small town Dayton, TN. There lives Annabelle Hastings who grew up baptist. She meets George Craig at a local pond and falls immediately in love with him. However, they both go thru questioning their beliefs when John Spikes is arrested for teaching evolution in high school.

The town becomes famous, news reporters take over. The prosecution attorney is a famous politician, William Jennings Bryan. The defense attorney is Clarence Darrow.
The controversy of the trial is one that everyone decides for themselves.. Except that it is illegal to teach ecolution in 1925. However, George joins the defense team.

The self discovery and awareness of what Annabell went thru during this trail for her marriage vows and herself was done so well by the writer.. You can just imagine what she went thru. I recommend this book. An interesting look at a topic that one resolves in their life.