Official Review: Survival Of The Fittest by Robin Hawdon

Post by **bookowlie** » 20 Jul 2015, 10:50

Interesting! So...if I ever become a spy or detective and come across someone who claims they are from South Africa, I now know what to ask to prove they are really from SA. ha ha ha

Cee-Jay Aurinko · Post by **Cee-Jay Aurinko** » 20 Jul 2015, 12:48

@bookowlie

Lol. That's a deal-breaker right there!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 20 Jul 2015, 15:52

Coffee is not my cup of tea. HA HA!

ktrum · Post by **ktrum** » 25 Aug 2015, 16:05

This is my first "post" to the online book club so please keep this in mind. I recently joined the online book club and noticed "Survival of the Fittest" in someone's bookshelf, not sure whom, though. I just finished this book and I loved every minute of it. I loved the way Robin Hawdon weaved the different time periods/story lines together. I didn't think the book lagged too much but I can understand why some may have thought so; there were a few periods of Maurice trying to decide how to approach finding Emma's journal but on the whole, I thought the story moved well. I also enjoyed how Maurice finally found the journal (when he really wasn't trying to do so, which happens a lot in life when we try so hard to accomplish something). I also had a very strong feeling that he and Frances Fanning would have some sort of relationship, even though, at first, because of the circumstances this wouldn't have seemed possible at all. I also enjoyed reading about Emma Darwin and her journal; Robin bought her character to life in the way he wrote her and I'm sure she was an interesting woman to have had all those children as well as trying to help Charles stay healthy. Again, this was a wonderful "read" for me; enjoyed it immensely.

Post by **bookowlie** » 25 Aug 2015, 23:37

Welcome to the forums! Glad to hear you enjoyed the book.

I really liked the the Maurice and Emma (through her journal) sections, but the Klaus Fuchs storyline was one time period/subplot too many. On a postive note, I learned a lot from reading the book and it spurred me to look up more information about Darwin's life.

ktrum · Post by **ktrum** » 26 Aug 2015, 05:01

I agree with you comment about the Klaus Fuchs storyline - it was a little too much to follow; I was also surprised that his character had a happy ending! As with you, this book is inspiring me to read more about Charles Darwin. I only know the basics that were taught in school.

I also enjoy reading your posts/comments/reviews on this site - they are informative and insightful!

Post by **bookowlie** » 26 Aug 2015, 17:38

Thanks for the kind words about my reviews and posts. What a nice thing to say.

The funny thing about the Klaus Fuchs subplot is that I found his story fascinating by itself. I just thought it distracted from Maurice's present-day storyline a bit.