Lisa Grunwald

Lisa Grunwald’s last novel Time After Time (about a young woman who, after she dies in train crash in a tunnel in Grand Central Station before WWII, returns to life but can only exist within the walls of Grand Central Central Station, falls in love with a train conductor) is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a beautiful love story.

Her new novel, The Evolution of Annabel Craig also has a historical setting. In 1925 Dayton, Tennessee, Annabel is married to George, a lawyer. Annabel show more overhears a group of the town’s businessmen discussing a newspaper article that states that the American Civil Liberties Union was offering to back any teacher in Tennessee who was willing to test a new law signed by the Tennessee governor.

The Butler Act forbid the teaching of evolution in public schools in order to protect the children from hearing something that is in direct contrast to religious teachings. The Dayton businessmen believed that this test case could be a boon to business in town.

Luckily for them, John Scopes, a young substitute science teacher and high school football coach, had taught a class about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which is found in their science textbook. John agrees and history is about to be made.

Annabel’s husband George ends up on the defense team, and their lives immediately change. Their neighbors and friends become angry with them. Over 200 reporters descend on the town, including a female reporter named Lottie Nelson.

Lottie befriends Annabel and opens Annabel’s eyes to a life beyond being a housewife. Annabel likes to take photos and Lottie encourages her in this pursuit, telling Annabel that “what a person wants can change”.

The Evolution of Annabel Craig may be a historical novel, but it has so many parallels to things happening right now. The media circus, the debate over separation of church and state in schools, the country coming out of a recent horrific pandemic (the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic), it all resonates with today's issues.

If you’re familiar the play “Inherit the Wind”, you know about this story. Lisa Grunwald tells it through the lens of Annabel’s growth as a woman, discovering who she is and what is important to her. It’s a book that leaves the reader with so much to think about, I read it months ago and I still think about it. I give it my highest recommendation. show less

There are some authors whose work I will always read. Their books are filled with characters that feel like people I want to know, the stories are interesting, and writing entrances me. Lisa Grunwald and Caroline Leavitt are two of those authors, and they both have wonderful books publishing in April.

Lisa Grunwald’s last novel “Time After Time” (about a young woman who, after she dies in train crash in a tunnel in Grand Central Station before WWII, returns to life but can only exist show more within the walls of Grand Central Central Station, falls in love with a train conductor) is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a beautiful love story.

Her new novel, “The Evolution of Annabel Craig” also has a historical setting. In 1925 Dayton, Tennessee, Annabel is married to George, a lawyer. Annabel overhears a group of the town’s businessmen discussing a newspaper article that states that the American Civil Liberties Union was offering to back any teacher in Tennessee who was willing to test a new law signed by the Tennessee governor.

The Butler Act forbid the teaching of evolution in public schools in order to protect the children from hearing something that is in direct contrast to religious teachings. The Dayton businessmen believed that this test case could be a boon to business in town.

Luckily for them, John Scopes, a young substitute science teacher and high school football coach, had taught a class about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which is found in their science textbook. John agrees and history is about to be made.

Annabel’s husband George ends up on the defense team, and their lives immediately change. Their neighbors and friends become angry with them. Over 200 reporters descend on the town, including a female reporter named Lottie Nelson.

Lottie befriends Annabel and opens Annabel’s eyes to a life beyond being a housewife. Annabel likes to take photos and Lottie encourages her in this pursuit, telling Annabel that “what a person wants can change”.

“The Evolution of Annabel Craig” may be a historical novel, but it has so many parallels to things happening right now. The media circus, the debate over separation of church and state in schools, the country coming out of a recent horrific pandemic (the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic), it all resonates with today's issues.

If you’re familiar the play “Inherit the Wind”, you know about this story. Lisa Grunwald tells it through the lens of Annabel’s growth as a woman, discovering who she is and what is important to her. It’s a book that leaves the reader with so much to think about, I read it months ago and I still think about it. I give it my highest recommendation. show less

Another book with a really promising start and a disappointing ending. I loved the first chapters, even if they did make me want another baby, but I started disliking Henry more and more the older he got, and by the end I was getting awfully tired of him bedding every woman within a ten-mile radius. And I was totally put off by the way he treated poor Martha. Yes, I get it, she lied to you. She also showered love on you for years and did her absolute best to raise you properly. So now that show more she's dying of cancer, you could maybe get over yourself a little bit, Henry. The fact that I am still ticked off at a fictional character two days after finishing the book is probably a tribute to Lisa Grunwald's skill as a writer. But I think I disliked him more than she really intended me to, and it's difficult for me to imagine he would ever make a good life partner. Run, Mary Jane! Run like the wind! show less

Another book with a really promising start and a disappointing ending. I loved the first chapters, even if they did make me want another baby, but I started disliking Henry more and more the older he got, and by the end I was getting awfully tired of him bedding every woman within a ten-mile radius. And I was totally put off by the way he treated poor Martha. Yes, I get it, she lied to you. She also showered love on you for years and did her absolute best to raise you properly. So now that show more she's dying of cancer, you could maybe get over yourself a little bit, Henry. The fact that I am still ticked off at a fictional character two days after finishing the book is probably a tribute to Lisa Grunwald's skill as a writer. But I think I disliked him more than she really intended me to, and it's difficult for me to imagine he would ever make a good life partner. Run, Mary Jane! Run like the wind! show less