Lisa Grunwald's smart, empathetic seventh novel, The Evolution of Annabel Craig, examines issues of faith, intellectual freedom, and self-discovery against the backdrop of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, better known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, of 1925.
One afternoon in the small, quiet town of Dayton, Tenn., Annabel Craig overhears a group of town leaders plotting to make local teacher John Scopes the test case for a new law, the Butler Act, which forbids the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. Annabel's sharp-eyed lawyer husband, George, joins Scopes's defense team, and Annabel watches (and takes photographs) as journalists, scientists, and lookie-loos descend on Dayton and the town itself is caught up in the tumult. Annabel confronts her assumptions about the relationship between science and faith, and about a woman's ability to make her own choices.
Grunwald (Time After Time) captures the rabid excitement of the trial while painting a nuanced portrait of Annabel: orphaned as a teenager, deeply in love with George, and worried about her marriage after some recent difficulties. Raised to obey male leaders on matters of faith, politics, and gender roles, Annabel begins to question those beliefs, especially when she hosts a young journalist named Lottie who challenges her on multiple points. As the trial drags on, Annabel has a front-row seat to courtroom debates, behind-the-scenes machinations, manipulation by (and of) local religious leaders, and new ideas about the choices available to women.
Thoughtful, well researched, and astonishingly contemporary, The Evolution of Annabel Craig is a compelling account of a landmark case in American law and a young woman forging her own path forward. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams