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.