The Evolutionist: A Novel
Available for order at bookstores and online at Indigo, Amazon, the Book Depository and other online retailers
(publication date: November 2014)
1858. The Malay Archipelago. A young British naturalist, Alfred Wallace, toils in obscurity amid these remote tropics. He collects specimens − beetles, moths, ants and birds − that sell for pennies apiece in England.
One night, suffering from fever and hallucination, Wallace solves the greatest mystery of the era: the origin of species. To circulate his discovery, he contacts a distant acquaintance -- Charles Darwin. Unbeknownst to Wallace, Darwin has been secretly penning a near-identical version of the same evolutionary theory for twenty years. Darwin soon achieves world-renown and Wallace earns, if nothing else, widespread grudging respect. But then Wallace returns to England where his advocacy for ideas ranging from socialism to spiritualism launches him on a collision course with the men at the very heart of the scientific establishment, including Darwin.
From oppressive jungle to mid-Victorian London, The Evolutionist tells of one man’s determination to seek out his own truths in his own unique way − and the price he pays.
Published by Aurora Metro Books