Member Review
Review by
Tracey B, Reviewer
I wanted to read this novel because I’m from Paducah, where John Scopes of the infamous Scopes Trial is buried. I love doing research on the “residents” of Oak Grove Cemetery (where Scopes is), and he’s been on my radar for a while. In fact, I’m a little disappointed that Lisa Grunwald beat me to writing about it. But, since she did such a fabulous job, I’ll forgive her.
This trial is a fascinating piece of the American puzzle, and I love how the author approached it from a young woman’s point of view. Annabel Hayes, the protagonist, was “born, baptized, and orphaned in the sleepy conservative town of Dayton, Tennessee.” She falls head over heels in love with a passionate attorney, George Craig, and sees him as the answer to all of her problems.
When George has a professional setback, though, he comes undone, and Annabel’s view of him shifts. Then, when he becomes involved in the 1925 Tennessee vs. Scopes case, more volatile ups and downs collide in the couple’s life.
Against the backdrop of the debate about evolution, Annabel begins to figure out who she is as an individual, as a woman who is not solely a wife. Grunwald makes keen observations about religion, sexism, and the American way of life without the reader feeling as if she’s judging or making a case for a particular view.
I loved this book and am so thankful NetGalley and Penguin Random House allowed me to read an advanced copy.
This trial is a fascinating piece of the American puzzle, and I love how the author approached it from a young woman’s point of view. Annabel Hayes, the protagonist, was “born, baptized, and orphaned in the sleepy conservative town of Dayton, Tennessee.” She falls head over heels in love with a passionate attorney, George Craig, and sees him as the answer to all of her problems.
When George has a professional setback, though, he comes undone, and Annabel’s view of him shifts. Then, when he becomes involved in the 1925 Tennessee vs. Scopes case, more volatile ups and downs collide in the couple’s life.
Against the backdrop of the debate about evolution, Annabel begins to figure out who she is as an individual, as a woman who is not solely a wife. Grunwald makes keen observations about religion, sexism, and the American way of life without the reader feeling as if she’s judging or making a case for a particular view.
I loved this book and am so thankful NetGalley and Penguin Random House allowed me to read an advanced copy.
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